Someone Else's Shadow
by Fullsteel
Summary: Axel had always known that he had a way to make people fall for him, he just hadn't meant it that way before. Roxas is the new kid and he's struggling with his past, how will things develope when he meet a certain someone? -AU, AkuRoku, plus side pairings
1. Chapter 1

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**AN:** Lookie, I'm back with a new story! This time it's my absolute OTP (one true pairing) AkuRoku, in my eyes they are simply meant to be together, cause I love how they are! Think about all the lemons there could be! -naughty thoughts-  
Er well... To the point then! Actually it took me a damn long time to be able to write AkuRoku for some reason, I have no idea why. But then I kind of got an idea and started writing. The update process wont be really fast since I keep my chapter standards on this fic on about 10 pages which equals aroun 5500 words (update: which now have changed to 13 pages xD) So I wont be throwing them out every other day or so! I got a life outside internet, y'know? School and crap like that. Well, I guess that's all I got to say for now.

**Update (25/11-08):  
**The first chapters of SES are now being beta-read as well, thanks a lot to **Trainra** for taking on the task to fixing the earlier ones! So this chapter has now been corrected!

**Summary:** Roxas is the new kid at Twilight High, and he's falling hard for someone. Axel always knew he had a way of making people fall for him, but he certainly hadn't meant it **that** way.

**Warnings:** AU (high school fic), swearing, boy x boy relationships, AkuRoku, Zemyx/Dexion. _Maybe ZackCloud and RiSo later. Future lemons._

**Disclaimer:** Well, did you know that I actually got the rights to Kingdom He-**OUCH**! -hit by a book-  
**Zexion:** Don't listen to the authress please, she doesn't own us at all. We're all property of Square Enix and Disney.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Roxas sighed as the morning light hit his eyes. He groaned and rolled over in his bed. He truly hated mornings in all possible ways. It was bright and early, and there was one thing that made this morning particularly bad. It was going to be his first day at a new school. And how he hated schools. He had no good experience of schools.

"Roxas!" A voice yelled through the house, "Are you up?" As if right on cue his alarm clock made itself known, ringing obnoxiously in his ears.

Roxas let out a louder groan as he pushed himself up from the bed and hit the alarm clock on the small table by his bed. It was with slow moves Roxas dressed this dreadful morning. He dreaded going to school and that was why he tried to make the getting ready process as slow as possible. He was trying to avoid what he knew was coming, which was actually pretty stupid if you thought about it.

"Rox!" a distant shout was heard through the house.

Roxas picked up his bag from the floor, ignoring the yell, and sighed as he threw a look into the mirror. A sulky 16 year old teenager looked back at him with ocean blue eyes. The teen had spiky and somewhat messy blonde hair that lived its own life. He wore a black tank top but had a white, checkered hoody over it. And too that a pair of black jeans.

"Eyeliner." Roxas mumbled when he noticed what was missing and with that he grabbed the eyeliner and applied some of it. He didn't care that people sometimes called him emo; he liked his eyeliner because it made his eyes kind of... stand out, in a way that he liked.

"**ROXAS!**"

"On my way!" Roxas shouted in frustration as he tried to get the eyeliner right, he didn't feel like doing it all over again, and soon he put it back on the table and with some minor swearing he finally made his way out to the kitchen where his brother stood by the oven, apparently working on breakfast.

Roxas sat down on a chair with a sigh as he looked at his older brother. As Roxas, his brother was blonde and had blue eyes. But the older one of them had been blessed with height, while Roxas was left... short. He hated to think of himself as short, but it was the sad truth. There was nothing he could do to change this very (according to Roxas) depressing fact.

"So you're up, I thought I'd have to drag you up," the older one of them said with slight sarcasm evident in his voice as he turned around with the frying pan in his hand, apparently making an omelette.

Roxas simply glared as he poured himself a glass of orange juice, "Funny Cloud," he muttered as he sipped on his juice before putting the glass down on the table.

"Well, you eat up and then I'll drive you to school," Cloud said and shrugged as he put the omelette on Roxas's plate. Cloud had apparently already eaten his breakfast; it was a mystery to Roxas how his older brother always could get up so early and still be so concentrated on everything, acting like he had slept a whole day or something. Roxas always felt like a zombie, no matter when or how he woke up.

"Thanks," Roxas simply stated as he picked up his utensils and slowly started to eat the omelette.

Cloud just shrugged as he poured himself a cup of coffee and then sat down in front of Roxas and started reading the newspaper to see if something interesting had happened.  
Roxas sighed as he picked at the omelette. He put his utensils down after just eating half of it. His appetite wasn't really up, and he didn't want to risk throwing up at school. God he was nervous! What if it would end up like his other school, the one he had attended to before? He didn't want that at all and shuddered at the simple thought of it.

"You done?" Cloud asked suspiciously as he eyed Roxas who just nodded, "All right, guess we should get moving then," he then said as he took the rest of Roxas' omelette and threw it in the bin. He also put away the carton of orange juice and washed Roxas' glass. Sometimes Roxas wondered if Cloud was his brother or his own personal maid... or, well, butler. But he had to admit that it was pretty funny to imagine Cloud in a maid's outfit.

Roxas just grimaced as he pushed himself up and followed Cloud to the hall where he put on his shoes and, despite it being summer outside he put on a light jacket, since the weather had been kind of strange lately. Cloud simply put on his long black gloves and then put on a helmet before he handed Roxas the other helmet.

"We're taking Fenrir?" Roxas asked with a frown on his face as he put the helmet on with some unease.

Cloud let out a chuckle as he grabbed the handles of his motorcycle named Fenrir and then rolled it a bit, "No, I just gave you the helmet so you wouldn't get run over by a dog."

"Haha," Roxas said with sarcasm as he watched how Cloud started the engine and then jumped up on the motorcycle to steady it and then he turned to Roxas and gave a nod, motioning to him to hop on.

With a sigh Roxas headed up to the motorcycle and flung himself up on the damn big motorcycle. He was a bit scared of it actually. He always felt so small on it, smaller than he actually was. It was like he was gonna die if the thing simply fell over. Of course he wouldn't die... but he couldn't help feeling scared of the big machine. Well, his only comfort was that Fenrir was Cloud's big love; he wouldn't let his bike get a single scratch. And Roxas was second on the list of Cloud's most beloved things. At least, he hoped he was...

Roxas yelped when Cloud suddenly raced away, it made Roxas immediately take a hold around Cloud's waist. He wasn't going to risk dying like this.

Cloud smiled for himself when he felt Roxas tighten his grip. He almost felt the urge to speed up even more to give his brother a fright. But by doing that he'd risk getting puke all over his back... and that was something Cloud didn't want. Plus the fact that he knew Roxas was nervous as hell, his poor brother hadn't been lucky with school last year. Kids these day weren't so open minded when it came to certain stuff. Like Roxas's own style, and some other things that had happened.

After a good 10 minutes ride Cloud finally slowed down and stopped at a building that was crowded with students. Many of them threw impressed looks at the motorcycle, and at Cloud.

Roxas jumped of the bike and took of the helmet. Cloud took of his helmet briefly and then gazed at Roxas for a while, "You gonna be fine?" he then asked softly, seeing the distressed look on Roxas's face.

"Yeah... I... I guess so," he murmured as he glanced around, still seeing that some people were looking at them.

"Just give me a call if something comes up, and when you get out of school give me a call and I'll give you a ride home. I'll be working down at the Sandlot today so I can sneak away. All right?" he then asked with an assuring smile on his face, earning a very small smile back, "Just take it cool, Rox," Cloud then added as he (to many girls dismay) put on his helmet again and with a quick wave he drove off towards the Sandlot.

Roxas sighed deeply as he shoved his hands into his pant pockets and headed for the school entrance. He was so not looking forward to this. Not at all. And how was he supposed to find his way everywhere? Ugh, he'd just head for the office first of all. And thank God that was the first thing he saw marked out when he got inside the school. A large sign reading office pointed the way and Roxas immediately hurried there and headed up to the desk.

A young girl with short brown hair looked up at him with a questioning look, "Huh, you want something?" she asked and removed her feet from the desk, looking bored out of her mind.

"Eh... Yeah, I'm new here and-,"

"Oh, you must be... Uhm... Yeah, the new 2nd year kid!" she said enthusiastically as she started up the computer screen, "Uh... Name?"

"Roxas Strife," Roxas answered as he eyed the girl. Weird, she didn't look much older than him. But well, who knew about age these days?

The girl nodded as she typed in his name at the computer and then printed out his schedule.

"Aaaand... there you go!" she said with a grin on her face as she handed him the paper, "Your first lesson is History, with Leon. It's just one floor up and then to the left!" she explained before waving him off.

"...Thanks," Roxas said shyly as he headed outside and went up the stairs which were close by.

And as the girl had said he took a left and saw a door that was open. Some chattering was heard from inside and Roxas swallowed as he prepared himself for utter doom and chaos. He hated the first thing. Introductions. Many teachers liked to torture their students with forcing them to speak up their whole life in front of class. With a churning stomach he sucked in a deep breath and stepped inside.

He met a pair of stormy grey eyes at the front of the classroom where a young teacher with brown hair and a scar across his face sat, "Ah. You must be Roxas, the new student, right?" he asked with a polite tone as he eyed Roxas from tip to toe.

Roxas gave a slight nod as he realized that some of the students shut up and looked at him with interest, "Yeah, that's me."

"Well, welcome to the class then," Leon said, "I'm Leon, your history teacher. I think I should put you up with another student this week since the school is rather confusing. But we'll save that for later, sit down where you please," he then said with a little smile on his face.

Roxas let out a sigh of relief as he smiled back, but just a small smile, and nodded. This teacher didn't seem bad. Not bad at all actually, and he was happy about that. But he didn't really like the idea of being paired up with another student. That could only mean trouble, right?

With a sigh he turned around to look for a good place, he wasn't paying attention to any of the other students so he headed to the back of the room and was about to sit down when an excited voice startled him.

"ROXAS!"

Roxas stiffened as he felt his eyes widening, who in hell knew him here? With slight dread he backed away from the chair he was about to sit in, trying to save himself from the blur that was coming at him in full speed.

Trouble indeed, he should have known that he was doomed from the beginning.

"It is you!" the blur yelled as it with tremendous power latched itself on Roxas, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Roxas hissed as his head collided with the hard floor, plus feeling an elbow in his ribs, "YAY! Roxas, Roxas, Roxas! I have missed you SOOOO much!" The hyperactive bundle of (over) joy squealed, sprawled on top of Roxas.

"What the fu-... Wait a moment..." Roxas moaned as he took in the sight of a pair of baby blue eyes, brown spiky hair and a big grin, "...You," he then stated with a frown on his face.

"Roxas!" the boy squealed and latched his arms around Roxas's neck, "You remembered me!" he then happily cried, not letting go of Roxas.

Roxas closed his eyes as he felt the kid's spiky hair poking his face. He didn't know if he should laugh or cry about the brunette being all over him. It was seriously a hard question to find an answer to. Cry... Laugh... Why not cry while laughing? Well, this meant he kind of knew someone.

"Of course I do..." Roxas said and forced himself to not sound annoyed or uncertain; he doubted his own voice though.

From the front of the classroom Leon cleared his throat and looked at Sora with a slightly amused look, "Sora... Step off of him, you don't want to give the new student a concussion his first day, right?" he then asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sora looked up at Leon and then down and Roxas who didn't look so comfortable by being pinned to the floor. With open mouth Sora jumped up from the floor and pulled Roxas up with him, immediately starting to look over Roxas in search of some kind of wound he might have inflicted on the blonde.

"I never thought I'd see you again for a while!" Sora squealed and once more hugged Roxas who this time hugged him back with a small smile on his face.

"Nice seeing you again, Sora." Roxas said softly as he this time dared to sit down in the chair. Sora was fast to sit down beside him, "Uhm... You aren't sitting with someone else?" he then asked with tilted head.

Sora's eyes widened and he wildly shook his head, "Are you kidding me? It's forever since I last saw you! Oh my... What is it... four years?" he then asked with amazement in his voice as he looked at Roxas.

"Yeah... Somewhere around there I think..." Roxas stated with a slight nod, he noticed that even more people were looking at them now.

Sora smiled widely, "I am so happy to see you! And you're going to start in my class, yay!"

Sora was about to open his mouth again when it stormed in about 20 students which made Leon clear his throat as he stood up. Sora pouted slightly but then smiled at Roxas before turning forward again.

"Well, I hope everyone had a good weekend," Leon said with a smirk on his face, earning several groans from the class, "I have heard several things about your survival expedition, it sounded… interesting to say the least..."

Roxas raised an eyebrow and thanked God he actually had decided to start school this week and not one week earlier like he had been thinking about. Ugh... Survival...

"Hm, over to something good then, we've got a new student," Leon stated as he looked Roxas's way, this made everyone look at him in surprise, "So, who are you?" Leon then asked and Roxas sighed inwardly, well... he knew it was something they had to do.

"Roxas Strife," Roxas said softly, not really daring to speak up. He had never been good at speaking in crowds.

"Mind telling why you decided to come here suddenly?" Leon then asked with slight interest.

Roxas opened his mouth slightly and then shut it, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "Eh... Some family stuff. Work and such things," he said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I see," Leon said and gave a nod, he had a feeling this was something sensitive, "Well, since Roxas is new I am assigning him to someone so tha-,"

"I can!" Sora suddenly yelled, "Please, Leon! I already know him, I can show him around and make sure he gets to know all the stuff!" he then said cheerfully.

"...I guess that's okay," Leon said after a while of thinking, "But you better take responsibility for him Sora if anything happens."

Sora grinned widely as he latched himself on Roxas again, this time around his arm, "Of course, you trust me, right Rox?" He then asked with puppy eyes which made Roxas actually let out a chuckle.

"Yeah," he then said softly.

Maybe the day wouldn't be so bad after all. Who had counted on him meeting Sora of all people? It was really weird, but good as well, he thought. Even though the brunette seemed to be a severe pain from time to time he probably was good at heart. A really nice and caring person who'd do anything for his friends. Roxas felt that he actually liked the kid, despite his hyperness; you just couldn't hate him.

Roxas had no problems at all with Leon's lesson. He just listened carefully to what Leon said, and took notes of stuff they were told to remember. But it really felt like he already knew all this since earlier, but it never hurt to write more than less, right?

Sora tried to start a conversation several times, Roxas just smiled each time Sora got a stern glare from Leon which always made Sora stop in mid sentence and sigh sadly. He really wanted to talk that badly, it had been years after all. So for Sora the lesson took forever to end. Roxas on the other had quite a good time in class, now he at least had one safe card in school. Sora.

Though... he couldn't help but wonder what Sora's friends were thinking. At least Roxas thought that the silver-haired boy and the red-haired girl who were glaring at him were friends with Sora. They didn't really seem to like the fact that their friend had joined Roxas.

"And that class is all for today," Leon said as he sighed and sat down by his desk again, "Make sure to try and do your homework this time. I won't tolerate much more skipping any longer," he then said with a sharp glare directed at some students. With this a collective groan escaped the class as most of them were set on leaving the classroom fast, homework free.

"Sora, Roxas, stay a minute would you?" Leon then asked as they stood up. Roxas gave a slight nod and Sora moaned.

"Come on, I wanna catch up with Rox!" he whined and pouted with crossed arms.

Roxas sighed, "You sure have no patience..." he said in a murmur that Sora didn't catch, Leon did though and couldn't help smirking.

"I just wanted to say that if you wonder about something Roxas, you can just ask me," Leon said with a slight nod, "And Sora, don't confuse him or something along those lines, I know how you can be," He added with a slight glare directed at Sora.

Sora sighed exasperatedly and headed towards the door, pulling Roxas along with him, "Yeah, yeah. I'll be good, show him school and all that stuff. Yadda, yadda, yadda," he then said and rolled his eyes before escaping the room.

A girl and two boys were standing outside the room, looking slightly confused, especially the other blonde kid who had a slight frown on his face.  
Roxas sighed inwardly. The preps, of course, he was being inspected and it seemed they were pretty unsure about Sora's choice of friend.

"Hey, Riku, Kairi, Tidus!" Sora said with a wide grin on his face, "This is Roxas! But well, Kairi and Riku, you met him once, right?" he then said with a smile on his face.

Riku gave a slight nod, "Yeah. Nice to meet you again," He then said, but without any emotion that spoke for it being the truth. It looked like he was thinking the exact opposite.

"Ah, I didn't recognize you. You've... changed," Kairi said with a smile on her face that was pretty much screaming fake all over.

"Yeah, lots happens in 4 years," Roxas said and shrugged before looking at Tidus. He had barely recognized Riku and Kairi... But this one, he hadn't seen him before.

"Hey," was all the blonde grumbled before turning on his heels and walking away, down the corridor.

Sora was of course oblivious about everything around him, just grinning widely as usual, "Well guys, we'll join you for lunch, I got to show Rox around school, see you!" and with that Roxas felt how he was grabbed by his hood and being pulled away deeper into the school.

Roxas had to admit that Sora was pretty good at explaining where everything in the school was located. But sometimes Sora tended to drift away from his task and start introducing Roxas to random people in school. Most of them were preps, he realized. It seemed those were the people Sora was running with, which would prove to be problematic since Roxas wasn't so fond of those persons. Roxas was different.  
After about an hour, they were done exploring the school and Roxas had pretty much memorized everything since he knew he wouldn't be able to stand being with Sora and (mostly) his friends all the time. He had nothing against Sora... he just couldn't stand those fake friends, and he was afraid of getting all... stared at, he hated to be judged by people who didn't know him.

"And well, that's all I think!" Sora said with a wide smile on his face, after talking about what Leon was discussing this morning. "Oh shit! We better hurry now, math starts in like 5 minutes!" he said with wide eyes as he started running, once more dragging Roxas with him, almost running into a tall red-head on their way to class.

"Hey! Watch it!" he yelled with wide eyes and stumbled back.

Sora just blabbered up something that was impossible to hear which made the redhead frown and roll his eyes.

"Sorry!" Roxas called through the corridor, throwing a look at the red-head, mostly apologizing for Sora who was pulling him through school. Hm. That guy was pretty good looking... Those green eyes and that really red hair...  
Roxas didn't have time to think more about the red-head since Sora pulled him into a classroom.

* * *

Axel sighed as he turned a corner seeing how a blur came running towards him at an amazing speed, he barely managed to avoid the collision and stepped back slightly.

"Hey! Watch it!" he yelled, looking at the blur, it was that damn prep kid, Sora, and his friend... No wait, that wasn't one of Sora's usual friends. It was a blonde that threw a look back at him and shouted 'Sorry' before being dragged off by Sora.

"Huh..." Axel let out as he watched the way the blonde had disappeared. He was kind of confused. He hadn't gotten the best look at the kid but it seemed he wasn't the prep type. He had seen the eyeliner and the converse. He smelled some emoness. He smirked slightly; this could prove to be interesting...

He shoved his hands into his pockets and headed his way towards the cafeteria. He had nothing against skipping school and he was meeting up with some friends either way. They had to catch up after the weekend. And maybe, if he was lucky, Demyx had been at his first lesson and could say something about the new kid. Something had caught Axel's interest.

"Hey, Ax!" a loud and enthusiastic voice yelled from a table in the back of the cafeteria. There his friends sat, Demyx, Zexion, Naminé and Zack. He had more of them but some were on the verge of failing if they skipped out more. Axel himself was actually one of those who were comfortably soaring through his classes, even if they went without him.

"Hey," Axel said with a smirk on his face as he headed up to the table and sat down with his friends, "What's up?" he then asked.

Demyx sighed, "Leon gave me homework!" he wailed as he slammed his head into the table. The blonde girl, Naminé, giggled.

"We all got it, not only you, Dem," she said softly.

"Well you don't have tests and that stuff coming up already," Zack said and sighed, "I am screwed, I think you guys should be happy to still be in juniors, they're trying to kill us seniors," he then said and grimaced.

Axel chuckled as he looked at Zexion who simply shrugged, he was reading a book. Like always.

"What about you?" Demyx then asked, still face down at the table surface.

"Nah, nothing. Skipped my first lesson, almost got knocked over by Sora and some friend of his." Axel said and shrugged, "Dem, you don't happen to know who it was? He didn't seem to be of **their** type," he then said with a raised eyebrow.

Demyx lifted his head from the table and then gave a nod at remembering the kid, "The blonde kid?" he questioned and Axel nodded, "His name's Roxas," he stated and then got a thoughtful expression on his face, "Roxas Strife..."

"Hm, kinda didn't look like he was one of them," Axel said unconsciously licking his lips.

Demyx shrugged and gave a nod, "Yeah. Seemed he knew Sora ages ago. Overheard something about four years ago. And the blonde kid didn't look far too enthusiastic by hearing Sora. But they seemed to be OK with each other."

"Aha..." Axel said with a nod, "Pity that he'll be in the preps claws. Either he'll be turned into one of them or he'll end up being ignored by them," He then said. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened.

Demyx just shrugged again and said something that sounded like 'guess so'.

Zack frowned as he pulled a hand through his spiky hair, "Strife... Where in hell do I recognise that name from?" he asked himself, everyone turned to look at him, and suddenly his face lit up, "Oh gosh, how could I forget?! Strife! He must be brother to Cloud Strife who dropped out of school two years ago!" he then enthusiastically said.

"Cloud who?" Demyx and Axel asked in confusion.

Zexion simply rolled his eyes and kept reading while Naminé just listened to their talk.

"Cloud Strife! Don't ya remember him? The blonde kid with the blue eyes, drove a really cool motorcycle to school. Wearing leather most of the time. Damn he was hot..." he then said dreamily.

"Zack... We didn't attend here two years ago," Axel stated with a frown on his face, "But well. Blonde and blue eyes, he must be related to the kid since Strife isn't the most usual name."

Zack smiled sheepishly and scratched his head, "Sorry. And yeah, I know he is. I used to talk to Cloud quite a lot in my first year. He was third year and all, but cool, at least when he wasn't an arrogant ass," he said with a slight laugh, "He disliked letting people in under his skin but-,"

"You always seem to worm yourself in." Axel said and smirked as the others chuckled, Zexion cracking a smirk when he saw Zack giving Axel quite the glare.

"Whatever, one day he just announced that he was dropping out, he had like straight A's and all that shit... But he just dropped out. Something was seriously wrong with him though," Zack said with a frown on his face, "He left town but apparently didn't sell the house. And I heard someone say something about a hot biker dropping someone off at school today, I guess Cloud's back in town then."

Demyx groaned as he shut his eyes, "Why are we talking about Zack's crush?"

"That's cause he's related to Axel's," Zack said with an evil grin on his face.

Axel simply rolled his eyes as he leant back, "I just thought the kid was interesting, a prep wouldn't say a nice word to us. He shouted sorry even though Sora was the one who almost tackled me."

"Hm. He seemed to be nice in history," Naminé said softly, "A bit shy though."

* * *

Roxas let out a heavy sigh as he dragged his feet after Sora who still was bouncing. After a damn tiring 2 hour long math lesson they were heading to the cafeteria. But Roxas kind of dreaded going in there. He was pretty sure that he'd have to sit with Sora and his prep friends. Which he wasn't interested in. That's why he had already figured out a plan.

He and Sora headed to the line and Roxas could immediately tell the system of the placing. There were the jocks. The preps. Some jocks and preps. Well, it seemed to be pretty much categorised. He noticed a table in the back with only a few people, where Roxas actually saw the guy from earlier, the red-head. He had actually asked Sora about him but Sora had simply told him to stay away from him and their sort. It had annoyed Roxas but he said nothing for the moment. And well, there were some outcasts sitting at small tables as well. Roxas swallowed as he got flashbacks from his other school. Not again.

While Sora bought two burgers with fries and coke Roxas simply bought two sandwiches and a bottle of water. His stomach was still not calming down.

"Come on Ro-,"

"Er... Sora, you know... I have never liked eating around people," Roxas said awkwardly as he looked another way, "So I was thinking of heading somewhere outside. Is that okay?"

"Aaaw," Sora said with a pout on his face, "Come on, my friends doesn't bite."

Roxas sighed inwardly as he mentally said _'Sure not, but I bet they'd like to.'_

"I am sorry, but I just feel uncomfortable. I've been like that a long time now," Roxas said softly, "I promise I'll see you later, okay?" he then asked and Sora looked a little bit brighter at hearing this.

"You bet!" Sora said as he grinned which Roxas returned with a small smile as he then escaped the cafeteria with his lunch.

Just by stepping outside he let out a sigh of relief. He had felt the eyes of Sora's friends trying to burn holes into his skull. He was so not going to eat with them; it had forced him to crack a lie but hell with it. He just had to escape from the damn atmosphere in the cafeteria.

Roxas looked around for somewhere to escape and decided to head outside since it was such nice weather this day. He even took off his hoody as he felt the sun warming him up immediately. With a smile Roxas noticed a perfect tree away from the school. He climbed up and found a perfect branch to sit on where he could rest his back against the tree. With a satisfied sigh he unwrapped one of his sandwiches and took a bite of it. He felt hungrier now when he was outside and didn't have to look out for preps who wanted to kill him with their glares.  
It didn't take him much time to finish his sandwiches once his hunger had started to make itself evident. He should really have eaten more of that omelette Cloud had made him for breakfast.

After ten minutes Roxas sighed as he looked out over the school yard. Only a few students where outside eating lunch. But it seemed to be prep clear at least. Roxas hadn't any interest in heading back inside as the minutes passed. He looked at his watch and eventually noticed that his next lesson was supposed to start in five minutes. Roxas grimaced as he started to push himself up.

_But hey... Who said you have to go to the lesson?_

'I promised Sora that we'd see each other later...' Roxas thought with a frown on his face as he communicated with himself. Good thing he kept that to himself or people would think he was crazy or something.

_You never said when later was. And you've already lied once, you can lie again you know._

Roxas sighed as he pulled a hand through his messy spikes, "I guess that's right," he murmured as he pushed himself further up the tree and got up on a higher branch which was a bit more... leafy. He wouldn't probably be seen through any windows of the school. He'd just be seen if someone got really close.

With a relaxed sigh Roxas leant back and closed his eyes. Just listening to the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves. And it was enough to soon make Roxas fall into a deep peaceful sleep.

* * *

"Hell yeah, and that was this day!" Demyx said with a grin on his face as Axel rolled his eyes. They had been sitting in the cafeteria for hours and just talked before they decided that they were going to skip the rest of the day. The blonde was really happy for nothing.

"You know, you only had history, Dem," Axel stated as they headed away from the school, "I'd not complai-," Axel bit himself when he saw a black bag fall down to the ground, landing with a thud just about an inch in front of him.

He opened his mouth in surprise and his friends did as well. Hell, had a bag just fallen from the sky and threaten to kill Axel at the same time?

"The hell?" Axel said as he picked up the bag from the ground, "Did you see that?!" he then asked as he looked at his friends.

Zack squinted as he looked up and then a grin broke out on his face as he pointed up at one of the branches higher up in a tree where a pair of legs dangled on each side of the branch. And apparently the person who those legs belonged to had fallen asleep since no sound was heard. Very smart place to sleep. In a treetop.

Demyx opened his eyes up wide and gasped in surprise, "How the fuck did he get all the way up there!?" he asked as he looked at Zexion with wide eyes.

Said boy rolled his eyes and then smirked, "It's called climbing, Dem," he then answered as Demyx got a pout on his face and then glared at him, which just made him smirk more at the pouting blonde.

"Should we... Wake him up?" Naminé asked, "I mean, he maybe lost track of time and-,"

"**HEY, KID!**" Axel then shouted loudly which caused said blonde in the tree to shoot up from his sleep and turn over, probably expecting to feel something solid under his fingers but there was only air.

Axel's eyes widened when he realized the stupid mistake he had done. Oh shit, the kid was falling down the tree. Was he stupid or what?  
He knew he always had had a way of making people fall for him... But he had never actually meant it this way.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, that was chapter one of my AkuRoku fic XD Sorry if I got some grammar/spelling errors!  
And please review to tell me what you think, not too much flaming please! And as I usually say in my fics... Demyx, say it!

**Demyx:** LEMONS FOR ALL REVIEWERS!

Er... I was about to say **cookies**...

**Update 25/11 -08!  
**Thanks a lot to **Trainra** who now have beta-read this chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** Okay, okay. I couldn't help to upload a new chapter this soon! God, I even thought about uploading it straight after the first chapter. But nuh-uh. I am gonna take it a bit cool now. This is a little bonus to all of you cause I am feeling nice today! And that might change very fast since I am on my damn period right now, mood swings and crap like that. So I've spent my day in bed, wallowing in pain and self despair, and played KH2. Yesh, I am replaying the game cause I love it. Especially Axel, Rox and Demyx. All my favorite little Org XIII members. -sigh-  
Uh, I am ranting again, right? Well, I wanted to tell you that some things in this story might not really make sense all the time, there will be answers later though. Just the title Someone Else's Shadow doesn't make sense right now, but that will also get explaining. Later. I am still figuring some stuff out as well. Damn it's complicated XD

**Thanks:** To **Sarie Bear**, **Ally Montgomery**, **XxPretty-OddxX**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **Plain Jane Is A Vampire**, **MadeInHolland**, **Melodious Authoress**, **Mord Sith Matt**, **LawlietxRinoa** and **Jayrin Paige**. For reviewing the 1st chapter

**Warnings:** AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + sidepairings: Zemyx/Dexion, ZackCloud(?) and perhaps RiSo), swearing, future lemons, future violence.

**Disclaimer: **Since Zexion, -**glare-**, so nicely told you last time I guess Roxas could tell you today!  
**Roxas: **Uh... We are property of Square Enix and Disney... If you excuse me now, I am on my way to fall down a tree because of you, dear authress. -glare-

**!!!EDIT (2 February 2009)!!! **  
Thanks a lot to **Trainra** for beta reading this chapter and correcting a lot of things!

* * *

**Chapter 2  
**Roxas had such a nice dream once he had fallen asleep, he dreamt that he was home in his own bed and he loved it. The soft mattress. The many soft and fluffy pillows. The warm blankets. Ah... According to Roxas it was heaven to be allowed to just lie down and sleep or even just rest in bed. He truly loved his bed and sleeping. But he hated being ripped away from them. Cloud always used to wake him up by yelling since his alarm clock didn't get him up most of the time. And Roxas was used to get startled by Cloud to the point he fell out of the bed, but he always used to catch himself before he hit the floor, it had become a reflex for him. Hear a shout, wake up, tumble out of bed, catch himself.

Roxas grimaced slightly as he thought he heard faint voices. No... Not time to wake up yet. He didn't want to go up to school. Better shut the voices out... Just 5 more minutes of sleep...

Roxas was once more content with his sleep in his far too comfortable 'bed'. He could sleep forever and he'd love it as much. He didn't have to worry then. But everyone knows that dreams don't last forever and this was for sure one of them.

"**HEY! KID!**"

Roxas's eyes immediately opened up in surprise as he turned over. **Shit**. He felt how he, like in his usual morning routine, tried to push his hands against something hard and solid, like the floor. But there was just air beneath his hands this time. It felt like everything happened in slow motion as he felt the rest of his body fall down the branch with him. He heard a girlish shriek and some loud swearing in the back of his head. He blinked as he watched how he fell past more branches. He moved so slowly he could almost have grabbed hold on a branch... But then reality kicked in as Roxas hit the ground with a loud thud, sure it was grass but he had been up high in the tree. And hell it hurt.

"Shit, shit, shit!" a panicked voice repeated over and over again as it got closer.

"Oh my God, tell me he's alive!" a female voice said in worry, also coming closer.

Roxas let out a groan as he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it when he felt how the dull aching in his head increased. Maybe caused by the sun in his eyes, or more likely by the hard impact with the ground, it hadn't been a very nice fall. He immediately shut his eyes again.

"Well, it's not everyday blonde's starts falling from the sky," another male voice said with some attempted humour which miserably failed.

"Zack, don't joke about that!" another unknown male voice said with a hint of irritation and panic, "Shit, he could have died!"

"Hey, kid, are you all right?" a slightly familiar voice asked as Roxas once more forced his eyes open as realized that something was looming over him. After a while when he finally managed to focus he realized that the one talking to him and looming over him was the same redhead he almost had run into earlier this morning. He was kneeling by Roxas with quite a worried look on his face, "Please say I didn't cause you any brain damage!" he pleaded and Roxas just blinked a few more times, trying to focus on what was happening around him, "Guys, I think I just mentally killed the new kid!" the redhead then cried as he grabbed his red hair in some kind of panic.

"Ugh... Damn it..." Roxas mumbled and moaned lightly at the dull pain in his head and back. That wouldn't feel any nicer tomorrow. Shit happens.

"He's talking!" a blonde boy with a pretty weird hairstyle squealed as he bounced up and down, hugging a blue haired boy at the same time, "You didn't mentally kill him!"

Roxas shut his eyes for a short moment before grimacing and using his arms to push himself up in sitting position. He opened his eyes and well... the world was practically spinning, "Oh shit..." he muttered as he rested his head against his knees and brought a hand to the back of his head where it hurt mostly. He immediately withdrew it when he felt something warm and sticky against his fingers. Oh fan-fucking-tastic, he was bleeding from the back of his head.

"Oh fuck..." the redhead said nervously, "I might have killed him in the end."

Suddenly Roxas felt a small and soft hand lift his face up and he looked straight back into the blue eyes of a blonde and pretty girl, "Hello, Roxas," she said softly with a worried smile on her face, "Do you... understand me?" she asked as she looked straight into his dazed eyes.

"Yeah..." Roxas said as he wiped the blood on his hands of on his pants, "What just happen-... Wait... I was sleeping and... Uh..." Roxas trailed of as he desperately tried to think of what had happened. All of a sudden he was just... sitting there on the ground, and how had he gotten there?

A chuckle was heard and Roxas looked up at a raven-haired boy, he had also quite a spiky hairstyle. Not nearly as spiky as the redheads hair though, "You were sleeping in the tree and then your bag decided it wanted to try and knock Axel out, so he woke you up a little bit too harshly."

Roxas blinked as he looked at the redhead who apparently was named Axel, he still had wide eyes and looked worried, not taking away his gaze from Roxas.

"Uh... Sorry about the bag...?" Roxas said insecurely as he scratched his head but winced when he came in contact with the wound.

Demyx had to turn around and try to not laugh at the blank face expression on Axel's face and the fact that Roxas genuinely looked sorry was too much. Was the kid for real? Apologizing for something he even hadn't done and didn't even react at Axel making him fall down a tree! It was all just priceless; he so wished he had had his camera with him.

"Uh... You know, I think I am the one to who should apologize," Axel said after a while and still looked at Roxas, still with a blank look on his face, then once more seeing the blood in the blonde's hair he panicked, "Shit! We have to get you to the nurse's office!" he said as he stood up and even pulled Roxas up with him.

Roxas opened his mouth and his eyes widened as he found himself standing up, it had been a little bit too sudden. He shook off Axel's hands from his arm, "I'm fine, really," he said, "I'll just... Uh... Go home and wash up or something..." he stated as he blinked a few times and was about to take a step when the world went spinning again but he found himself being steadied up by Axel so he wouldn't hit the ground again.

"Don't think so, kid," Axel said warily as he threw a look at his friends, "Demyx, could you take his bag? And... uh... Zexion, would you mind telling his teachers that there was a little accident and try to not make it sound like I pushed him down the tree, kay? And Naminé... You..."

"I'll come with you, seeing as you're pretty shocked yourself," she stated with a small smile on her face.

Roxas just blinked as he took in the names of the people. Were these the people Sora had warned him about? He didn't think they seemed so bad, really nice actually since they were helping him and all. Or well, apparently they were the reason he had fallen down the tree in the first place but still... He could almost bet that the preps wouldn't have helped him at all if anything happened. Well, Sora would have. But Sora didn't count into the preps really, because Sora was one of a kind.

"What about me?" Zack whined, feeling left out.

"You call his bro; you said you knew him, right?" Axel asked with a raised eyebrow.

Roxas opened his mouth and shook his head when he realized what they were talking about, "Dear God, no! No one is calling Cloud!" he said in slight panic, knowing that Cloud never would let him even go outside again if he got to know that he had fallen down a tree. It was better just pulling a lie at home about his head. Cloud was so overprotective since... **that** happened.

"Sure about that?" Axel asked with a frown on his face.

"Y-yeah," Roxas said with a slight stutter, still very lost about the situation, "I'll just... get home. I think that'll be all right," he stated with a nod, but didn't sound so convincing. Not even to himself.

Axel groaned, "Not before the nurse, kid, I don't want to be the one held responsible if you die."

"But-,"

"Just for a check up, is that okay?" the blonde girl, Naminé, asked, "We'll give you a ride to your home then, does that sound good?" she looked him straight into his eyes with a warm smile on her face, almost motherly. Roxas concluded that he liked this girl... She had a nice smile.

Roxas simply nodded and with that Axel hauled him away towards the school again. Zexion split from the group once they got inside and headed to tell the teachers that Roxas had been in a little accident caused by... a mistake. Zexion forced himself to hold back a smirk. Maybe he could make it sound a little worse than it actually was... It could be so fun getting Axel in trouble sometimes...

Roxas was in a cloud of mist the whole way to the nurse. He simply followed the way Axel pulled him and looked at random stuff the whole way there. Feeling like he just floated by with Axel's movements. Once they entered, what Roxas guessed was the nurse's office, a soft sigh was heard.

"Zachary, who is it this time and what happened? Is it Axel?" A soft and nice female voice asked.

Zack grinned as he let Axel and Roxas past him, "Believe me or not, this time it isn't one of us who's hurt, Aerith."

The nurse, Aerith, opened her mouth and immediately jumped up from her seat when she saw the blonde teenager who looked slightly disoriented, "God what happened? Axel, set him down here," she said and Axel was fast to put him down on an examination table.

"He fell down a tree, 4-5 meters up or something," Axel said and scratched his head, "I think-,"

"Your hair is pretty," Roxas suddenly said, cutting Axel off mid sentence, very fascinated by Axel's red spikes. He was even tugging at one of them with clear interest.

Axel simply opened his mouth in pure confusion, "Uh... Thanks, I guess..." he said and at that Zack cracked and started to hysterically laugh. He apologized himself when Aerith glared at him and he hurried outside, still laughing so much that he was on the verge of crying. It had just been so random. Of all things Roxas could say he said that Axel's hair was pretty? Now that was just too funny.

"Oh my, he must for sure have hit his head pretty hard," Aerith said and sighed when Zack was out of the room, "Not much I can do about this, but I can clean it up." She said as she looked at the hack in Roxas's head with a slight frown on her face.

"He'll be fine?" Axel asked with slight nervousness in his voice, "I... Uh... It's kind of my fault that he fell and-,"

"Yes he'll be just fine, it would be best for him to just get home and rest for today and tomorrow," she said as she grabbed a bottle with some liquid that she poured on a ball of cotton, "And who are you? I haven't seen you here before," she then asked Roxas softly with a smile on her face.

"Roxas," Roxas said as he tilted his head slightly, "Roxas Strife," he then repeated with a slight nod.

Aerith opened her mouth slightly ajar, "Cloud Strife's younger brother?" she asked and Roxas nodded with a small smile on his lips.

"Oh dear, then you really **really** hit your head hard," she said with a slight giggle which made Axel and Naminé look confused. With that Aerith started to clean the wound which made Roxas yelp slightly but he kept still, "Sorry," Aerith said as she wiped the wound free of blood until it was dry and not bleeding so much any more. Roxas didn't make many sounds, just wincing a bit every now and then. It was for sure stinging.

"So, do you have someone who can get you home?" she asked softly.

"Uhm..." Roxas said thoughtfully. He didn't want to call Cloud like this. It would just be embarrassing and aside from that he knew Cloud was working.

"I'll give him a ride," Axel said before Roxas had time to come up with a plan, "I've already said that I would."

"Yay," Roxas said with a goofy smile on his face, _'What the hell are you doing, Roxas? Shit, your head is more knocked up than it seemed to be...'_, "I can go with the pretty hair," he then said with a giggle which made Axel look at Roxas and chuckle.

"Yeah, you get to go with pretty hair," Axel repeated with a smirk on his face. The kid was so totally out of it.

Aerith smiled slightly as she turned around and took out a small bottle of pills and handed them to Axel, "Just make sure he gets home and that he takes this bottle with him," she then turned around, wrote a note and gave it to Axel as well, "Just a note to leave with the bottle as well, it's to his brother," she explained as Axel grabbed Roxas's hand and helped him up from the table.

"Sure, sure," Axel said before giving a wave, "Thanks Aerith."

"Any time," she said with a smile on her face and waved as Axel, Roxas and Naminé headed out from the office, meeting Zack who was still smiling. Demyx and Zexion were there by now as well.

Demyx looked a bit concerned, "So... He gets to go? Nothing wrong?"

"Depends on what you mean with wrong..." Axel said and looked at Roxas who still poked at the redhead's hair, "He hit his head pretty hard and uh... I'm just gonna get him home so he can rest for a few days, I think I owe him that," Axel then said and grimaced as Roxas yanked at a spike of his hair, it made Demyx grin and then chuckle.

"Well, Roxas, is that right?" Demyx asked and Roxas looked at him and nodded, "Get better so you can come back to school soon, it'd be fun if you wanted to hang out with us," he then said with a wide grin as he ruffled Roxas's hair and handed Axel Roxas's bag. Roxas just smiled and nodded which made Demyx chuckle again, it was adorable. The kid seemed to be in another world.

With that he and Zexion started heading out, "Just give a call later, Ax!" Demyx called before they disappeared, Axel giving a short wave.

"Er... What about you two?" Axel then asked his other two friends.

"I could give you directions," Zack said with a shrug, "I think he lives where Cloud lived. Since he never sold the house, I mean," he then added and smiled, hoping to meet Cloud again. Oh so hot Cloud... He'd almost do anything to see the older teen again. He just looked so... Ugh, he wasn't even able to put it into words. And even though Zack was younger he was still bigger and taller than Cloud. After all there were only two years between them. He'd so want to show Cloud what real passion meant.

"I'll head home for a while," Naminé said with a smile, "I guess we will all see each other soon, just take him home and make sure that he lies down before you leave, it would be bad if it got worse," she said warningly as she looked at Axel.

"Of course, I don't need to kill the kid," Axel said with a nod as he looked at Roxas who was busy examining Axel's hair again. He smirked as he looked at Roxas's concentrated blue eyes. The kid was too cute for his own good really. Pity he seemed to know Sora's kind... Axel hadn't much against Sora. The brunette was just a bit too stupid to see what kind of jerks he ran around with. It was people like Riku and Tidus that pissed him of.

With that Naminé gave Roxas a final smile, "Take care," she said before heading out of the building, leaving Axel with Roxas and Zack.

"Er... Should we get going?" Roxas asked, a little bit out of his haze.

"Uh, yeah, of course!" Axel said and started walking, pulling Roxas along with him, looking around to avoid any preps. There weren't many people out in the corridors; pretty much everyone had lessons at this time.

With that they headed out of the school yard and then to the parking lot where Axel immediately walked up to a red car. This was his baby; he loved his car to death... At least, almost.

"Well, Roxas, do you know the way to your home?" Axel asked as he picked up the keys to the car, looking at Roxas.

Roxas gave a nod, "Yeah, it's... down that... Eh... I could have sworn... Maybe it's that way..." Roxas frowned as he confusedly looked around at the roads. He had been too busy praying that he'd survive the ride to school with Cloud so he hadn't concentrated on the way there.

Zack chuckled as he sat down in the passenger's seat, "Guess I'll give directions then."

Axel smirked slightly, "Yeah," he simply said and opened the door for Roxas who jumped in. Getting his bag handed to him as well, "Put on the seatbelt," Axel then added as he shut the door and got into the drivers seat of the car. He didn't have to be the reason of Roxas's death if they crashed.

"Aw, you never tell us to put on the seatbelts," Zack said with a pout as he fastened his seatbelt none the less, "You want me to die?"

Axel snorted as he started the engine, "Just shut up and gimme the directions," he said and then sighed as he backed out of the parking lot to get out onto the road.

Zack sighed as they drove out onto the road and from then on he was busy giving directions for a time of twenty minutes, since he had been giving the wrong directions several times, accidently albeit though. During this time Roxas went in and out of some kind of slumber, it was slightly straining to hit your head like that. In the end he ended up gazing through the car window.

'Shit... Everything is like a thick mist...' he thought for himself with a frown on his face, 'I... ugh... I have really embarrassed myself, haven't I?' he then thought and closed his eyes with a slight grimace on his face.

_Well, blame it on the fall._

Yeah. Right, he could blame it all on that.

"And here it is!" Zack suddenly said and Axel slowed down as he drove up on the garage drive by the small house. He gave a slight nod; it was a small but nice house.

"Roxas, this is where you live, right?" Axel asked as he looked back at the blonde who looked a bit tired, like he was about to fall asleep.

Roxas lifted his face from the window surface and looked at the house before nodding, "Yeah... I live here," he said quietly as he yawned and opened the door.

Axel followed Roxas's example and got out of the car and followed him up to the door, ready to catch the wobbly blonde again if he had to. Roxas started to look through his bag for keys and soon found them, unlocking the door and stepping inside; he looked at Axel with a questioning look on his face, "Uh..."

Axel grinned as he held up a bottle, "Just making sure you get all your stuff, you don't have to let me in or anything," he said with a shrug, "Aerith told me to give you this, and a note to your bro," he then added, frowning slightly about why it wasn't to his parents. But he didn't ask, it was none of his business after all.

"Pills?" Roxas asked slightly as he looked at the bottle with a confused face expression, "Wha?"

"For your pretty little head," Axel said with a wink as he handed the bottle to Roxas along with the note, "You should get some rest and sleep, Zexion told your teachers what happened and you should stay home tomorrow, just go and lie down or something," he then said softly.

Roxas blinked. Pretty little head? Uh, right... He took the bottle from Axel's hand, "Thanks, I will... Axel, right?" he said shyly, reality kicking in.

Axel simply gave a smile, "Heh. Sorry about all this," he then said and ran a hand through his spiky hair, "I shouldn't have woken you up like that. Make sure to get better, kid. And yeah, the name is Axel, got it memorized?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"O-oh... No, it's fine. You didn't exactly push me down. I shouldn't have fallen asleep in a tree..." Roxas stuttered out with a heated blush on his face before he smiled a bit, "Right, I got it."

Axel chuckled as he shoved his hands down into his pockets, "Well, see you around in a few days, feel free to join us at lunch sometime, you're cool for hanging with Sora and the preps though," he said, not really meaning to say the last part out loud with such disgust evident in his voice.

Roxas scratched his head, "I don't really like them..." He then said drowsily, "They're weird and fake."

Axel laughed out loud at that which earned him a smile from Roxas, "True, kid. It's so true," he said as he started back towards his car again, "See you!" he called before jumping into his car, leaving Roxas with a goofy smile on his face before the door closed.

Axel still had a smile on his face as he got into the car again and started the engine.

"Did he say something funny?" Zack asked with a smirk on his face.

Axel shook his head slightly, "Not really, the kid's just adorable and totally out of it. Well, some good news is that he don't like preps," he said with a grin on his face, "Maybe it's good I knocked him out of the tree, right?" he asked with a wide grin on his face.

Zack chuckled as he shook his head slightly, "Sure about that?" he asked.

Axel shrugged, "Did you see how Sora's friends glared at him in the cafeteria? I bet even Roxas felt those glares. They don't like different," once more his bitter voice was there.

"Guess you're right on that one," Zack said as he gave a nod, "Damn those preps."

Axel simply sighed as they drove on towards their hanging out spot at the Station Height. It was a great place to skate or chill and it was pretty close to his apartment anyway.

When they jumped out of the car they immediately saw that Demyx and Zexion were sitting at the stairs of the clock tower, talking and laughing.

"Yo!" Axel called and waved as they closed in on the two teens.

"Ah, Ax, so you got the kid home all safe and sound, eh?" Demyx asked with a grin on his face which made Axel chuckle and scratch the back of his head in slight shame.

"I got him home all right, but I am not so sure his mind is what it should be. Hard to tell since I don't know him," he then said and smirked at just thinking of the blonde's confused look.

Zack rolled his eyes and then laughed as well, "Yeah, he must be a bit up in the blue. He said he thought your hair was pretty, Axel." Zack said and laughed some more.

"Whaat? That's hilarious!" Demyx said and laughed loudly.

Axel just smirked and shook his head, "You know, he was all 'Yay, I get to go with pretty hair!' when I said I'd give him a ride home," Axel said and grinned evilly, "Too bad I don't have that on tape... It would be some nice blackmail material."

Zack just chuckled as Demyx laughed loudly, Zexion smirked.

"He seemed to be all right, too bad he's hanging with the preps," Demyx said with a sigh.

Axel shrugged, "I think that might not be really true. Think about it, you said that it seemed he knew Sora from earlier, right?" Axel asked and Demyx nodded, "Well, everyone knows that Sora is kind of special... Plus the fact that the prep gang tried to glare holes in his skull in the cafeteria, and he actually said he thought the preps were fake and weird," Axel then stated with a smug expression on his face.

"Wooho, one point for the different!" Demyx cheered, "I love stealing people to our kind," he said with a grin on his face, "And Roxas seemed to be okay in class. Just a bit shy."

Axel smirked, "I bet we could change that, I mean... Look at you," he then said teasingly as he poked at Demyx who pouted and flapped Axel's hand away.

"Well, sorry but I gotta go," Zack said and sighed as he pushed himself up, "Got to make my share of work today, need to pay some bills!" he said and grinned as he waved at them.

"Ah, okay, see you tomorrow!" Axel yelled and waved him off along with Demyx.

With this Zexion stood up as well and sighed, bending down and giving Demyx a quick kiss, "Sorry Dem, but I have to go as well. Got some things to attend to," he said and looked at the blonde.

"Oh! Uh... Sure, can I call you later?" Demyx asked with tilted head.

"Sure you can," Zexion said with a nod as he walked away.

Once Zack and Zexion were out of sight Axel sighed and leant back on the staircase, looking up into the bright sky. It was really nice weather now, sun shining, no strong winds. It was simply perfect for relaxing outside. Not too cold, and not too warm.

Demyx threw a look at his relaxed friend and smiled slightly. He had a feeling that Axel had taken a small liking to the other blonde boy, Roxas. Axel didn't use to fuss over anyone that easily. But Demyx didn't really think Axel knew about it himself. Sure, Demyx knew that Axel swung both ways. There were more boys than girls in Axel's life though, but nothing had been serious. Demyx had been playing around before as well. Until he met Zexion. He was really happy with Zexion, even though the "emo" usually was acting more or less ignorant of things. Demyx wasn't really sure if Zexion was into the relationship as much as he was, what did he see in Demyx after all?

Demyx sighed sadly and shook his head, "Hey, Ax?" he said softly as he also leant back, looking up into the sky.

"Yeah?" Axel said questioningly as he threw a look at Demyx and his thoughtful facial expression.

"What do you think Zexion sees in me?" Demyx asked with a grimace on his face, "Do you... Do you think he thinks I am annoying?" he then asked, looking like a kicked puppy.

Axel blinked in confusion as he looked at Demyx, "What the...? Hey, you're great Demyx. You're nice, caring and fun; sure you can get a bit annoying from time to time but not enough to complain about it."

"Sure about that?" Demyx asked hopefully.

"Of course. I promise you that, Dem," Axel said softly, "And I don't think Zexion would be with someone he didn't care for," he then added. He knew that the blue haired emo kid wouldn't waste his time on someone unimportant.

Demyx gave a nod and then grinned, "Yeah, you're right," he said and sighed in contentment as he looked at the sky again, "This day has been great!"

Axel gave a slight snort and smirked, "Guess so, just like any other ordinary day," he said.

Demyx chuckled and looked at Axel, "So you're saying that you usually scare small blonde's to make them fall down trees, huh?" he asked with a small grin on his face.

The redhead couldn't help smiling sheepishly, "Okay then, not so ordinary maybe. But hell, it was kind of worth it!"

The blonde beside Axel smirked to himself as he glanced at Axel, "You only think that cause you liiike hiiim!" he then said teasingly which earned him a slight glare from Axel.

"I just... Think he's interesting. He's not like the other preps," he said in a slight mutter as he frowned, "But he seems too nice to be emo or something like that," he stated, "Not cool enough to be a jock and..."

"He's different, like us," Demyx said with a slight nod, "I hope we get to see more of the kid, he greatly amuses me," he added with a wide grin on his face.

Axel simply rolled his eyes and then smirked, "For all we know he might be an asshole when he isn't totally out of it, I mean, I did recently bust up his brain."

"Come on, didn't you say he was nice enough to apologize, would an asshole do that?" Demyx asked, "And he seemed to be shy, not many assholes are so shy like he seemed to be."

"Guess you're right." Axel said and shrugged, "Whatever, either way we'll find out about that soon enough." _But it isn't really soon enough... I wanna know more about the kid now. Damn him and his big blue eyes, lined with eyeliner... And that blonde messy hair... that small body... Those nice legs... His lip-_

"**HELLO**?! Demyx to Axel, do you hear me?" Demyx asked as he shook Axel slightly.

"What?" Axel asked and blinked as he looked into Demyx's blue eyes who were staring back into Axel's emerald green eyes.

"You totally spaced out on me, man," Demyx said and chuckled, "I said your name like five times, plus some rather obscene nicknames that I don't dare to repeat," he then said with a wink and grinned, "What was on your mind?"

"Oh, sorry," Axel said with a chuckle, "Didn't mean to leave you here in the land of mortals all alone, how horrible of me. And... I didn't really think of anything that matters," he then said and frowned. His thoughts had been starting to run away from him. And it wasn't so good. He didn't even know the blonde kid for God's sake. _But he was very cute... Think about it, Axel, wouldn't you want to just ravish someone as innocent as him? All unknowing about everything. He's probably a virgin as well. Oh yeah, Axel... You could teach him __**everything**__._

Demyx raised an eyebrow but didn't question Axel, if the redhead didn't want to say it, then he had the right to keep it for himself. But somehow Demyx thought that it had something to do with the kid, Roxas. And now the redhead looked spaced out again.

"So, gonna skip more class tomorrow?" Demyx asked to change the subject to something normal, and to make Axel snap out from wherever he was.

Axel simply shrugged as he was once more snapped out from his deep thoughts about Roxas, "Don't think so. I have skipped waaay too much lately; I'm not so fond of getting warnings all the time. Reno is going crazy over it, not that I am skipping but that he gets the phone calls from the school," he said and grinned widely, it was for sure fun pissing people of.

"Ha, your brother must be pretty pissed at you then, huh?" he asked with a grin on his face, "But otherwise Reno's cool, right?"

Axel smirked and nodded, "Pissed yeah, but as you say he's cool," he said with a sigh, "But he's all lovey dovey right now..."

Demyx blinked and then sat up and looked at Axel with wide eyes, "Who? When? Where?" He asked, this was for sure something new!

"Rude, about two months ago, at Shinra," Axel simply answered, "He's practically floating on clouds from time to time. I haven't seen Reno like this before."

The blonde laughed and grinned widely, "I can't imagine him in love. Rude... So he, Reno... Swings that way as well?"

Axel snorted and smirked, "What other way could he swing? Just look at him, he's so damn feminine from time to time." _Wasn't Roxas a bit feminine as well? Well, love that face either way... His eyes were so adorable... _Axel shook his head slightly to clear it.

Demyx rolled his eyes, "And you're the one to talk?"

"Come on, admit it... I am not that feminine, right?"

"Yeah, guess you're right," Demyx said and sighed as he watched Axel push himself up from the grass before he stretched out and yawned.

Said redhead then let out a deep sigh as he scratched his head, "Well Dem, I am kind of tired. Gonna head home and just get some rest on the couch. Will be sooo nice," _Ugh, can't get that Roxas kid out of my head._

Demyx laughed as he also got up from the ground and brushed some dirt off from his pants, "Sure, do that. But I'll see you tomorrow, huh?" he asked, eyeing Axel suspiciously.

"Yeah, as I said, I've skipped too much lately," Axel said as he got up his car keys, "See ya, Dem!" he said as he retreated quickly to his car and as soon as he got inside, started it and drove away, leaving Demyx looking quite confused but eventually he let out a slight sigh and headed home as well. He could always bug Zexion over the phone.

* * *

**AN:** And that was the 2nd chapter. Even a little bit longer than the first one, and what's strange is that they seem to get longer for every chapter. I believe chapter 4 is about 15 pages or something like that... oo'  
Well, what did you think? Personally I love the confused Roxas XD I do have a hard time believing they'd simply send him home like that though. But it's fiction so bear with me, kay? -**hands out lemons**-

**Demyx: **I didn't mean that kind of lemons... ZEXY! Let's show her a **real** lemon! -starts undressing-

NO! PUT YOUR SHIRT ON THIS INSTANT! -tackles Dem- **Review please! **And see you next time! ... NO DEMYX! KEEP YOUR PANTS ON! **Zeeexiiiooon! HELP ME!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** -sigh- I really must stop being this nice. But I can't help myself to upload this chapter now, cause I feel like doing something and I don't have a single thing to do at home. I am so damned bored right now! So here you go, but next chapter will be on a hold for a week, or until I finish chapter 7. Which actually should be soon since my writing is moving on pretty fast. And it's fun to see that there's such a great interest in my story this soon, it has only been up for a few days but it already got more views and reviews than some of my older stories :D  
And uh, this chapter is a bit jumpy. Or not really but I change view from Axel to Roxas and then I skip or rewind some time. So don't be too confused, okay? XD

**Thanks to:** **XxPretty-OddxX**, **Plain Jane Is A Vampire**, **HarrylovesDraco**, **Mantineus**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **Guzophela**, **The Infamous Me**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Suna's Assassin**,** Mord Sith Matt**, **LawlietxRinoa** and **J****ayrin Paige****. **Thanks for reviewing chapter 2!

**Warnings:** AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + sidepairings: Zemyx/Dexion, ZackCloud(?) and perhaps RiSo), swearing, future lemons, future violence.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did the game would for sure have a much higher rating. (Square Enix and Disney own KH, sadly)

**!!!EDIT (2 February 2009)!!!  
**A huge thanks to **Trainra** for beta reading and correcting misstakes in this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

As soon as Axel had driven away and left Roxas home alone, the blonde had decided to lie down on the couch with an enormous pile of blankets and pillows. He stayed there, in his pile of cozyness, for hours. His head was hurting badly and his back and neck wasn't giving him a good time either. Earlier he had been too shocked and surprised to really realize how much everything hurt, but now when he wasn't distracted by anything... Ugh. It hurt really badly.

A weak whimper escaped his lips as he woke up from his very light slumber. The pain couldn't even allow him to get some well deserved sleep. How mean of the pain.

"Hurts..." he mumbled for himself. But why did it hurt now again...? Ah, right. Axel had woken him up so he had fallen down that tree. What a smart redhead, indeed.

_'But really... He didn't mean it and he was kind of concerned. But still, my head is killing me!'_

Roxas let out a slight moan as he turned to face the couch and not five minutes later he heard the door open up only to be slammed shut. He winced at the sharp sound and prepared for scolding.

"Roxas?! Rox!" Cloud's slightly panicked voice was heard from the hall.

Roxas blinked a few times as he pulled the blanket down, "I'm here..." he called weakly, just peeking up from the blankets.

Hurried footsteps were immediately heard and soon Cloud appeared with a worried and pretty angry face expression, "You better explain yourself, Roxas! Do you have any freaking idea how damn worried I've bee-," Cloud cut himself off when he saw how troubled and tired Roxas looked, "Did... Did something happen?" he then asked in full concern. His brother didn't usually lie in a pile of blankets and pillows at this time of the day.

"Mm..." Roxas let out as he pushed himself up in sitting position and then leant against the pile of pillows, "I kinda... Fell down a tree," he said as he got a slight blush on his cheeks, he knew there was no point lying about it, "I fell asleep and someone attempted to wake me up and I kinda... flipped over, I forgot where I was."

Cloud opened his mouth and then looked at Roxas with wide eyes before striding up to him and taking a slight grab on his face, looking him all over and in the end finding the cut in the back of his head, "Shit... Roxas, are you okay?" he worryingly asked.

Roxas nodded, "My back and my head hurts... But the nurse said I should stay home and rest for today and tomorrow... I also got that," Roxas then said and pointed at the small bottle of pills.

Cloud looked at the bottle and the unfolded the note that had been attached to it.

_Just make sure he takes three a day. One in the morning, one at lunch and one in the evening.  
Take care of him and yourself, Cloud.  
/Aerith_

"Aerith..." Cloud said softly as he looked at the note. He had recognised the handwriting as soon as he had seen it.

Roxas blinked a few times and looked at Cloud who had a small sad smile on his face for a while. He decided to not ask what was on his brother's mind. Cloud deserved the privacy after everything he had gone through for Roxas.

After a short while Cloud sighed and then looked at Roxas, "Sure you're fine?"

"Just a bit disoriented," Roxas muttered as he closed his eyes again.

Cloud sighed and ruffled Roxas's hair carefully, "Well, how was your day before you almost cracked your skull open?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as Roxas sent a slight glare at him.

"It was fine..." Roxas mumbled before getting a frown on his face, "There was... Sora... You remember him?" he then questioningly asked and Cloud nodded with a deep frown on his face, "He's in my class and got all overly excited."

Cloud sighed and scratched his head, "How was he then?"

"Uh... Annoying?" Roxas suggested with a shrug, "But okay, I guess."

Cloud gave a sigh of relief and headed to the kitchen, "I'm gonna do some dinner, want something specific?" he then asked.

Roxas shook his head slowly, "Anything but fish is fine," he murmured as he once more closed his eyes to rest before dinner would be ready.

"Sure," Cloud said softly before leaving Roxas alone in the living room.

_Well, he didn't ground you like you thought he would._

'Like he could ground his poor wounded brother...' Roxas thought and mentally rolled his eyes at hearing his inner voice tease him. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only one who had that taunting voice in his mind. Maybe it only was his conscience or something like that. Either way it liked to make fun of him.

Roxas sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. He had decided to leave out the part about Sora's friends. Cloud had looked concerned at the mention of Sora. Apparently Cloud had memories of the brunette, Roxas didn't really know what he was going to do about it, should he ask Cloud about it? Did he really want to know?

_Frustrated about it? Just be patient, maybe it will come back to you one day._

'Oh just shut up!' Roxas hissed in his mind and only heard a faint snicker before he got his head to himself once more. Which was much more peaceful than having an argument which made his head hurt even more. Ugh, he didn't think the days at home would be so great after all. Not if he had to share his head with his inner voice.

* * *

Axel sighed as he looked at the clock in the cafeteria. It was lunch time and he and his friends sat at their usual place. It had been three days since the little accident he had put Roxas through, and he hadn't seen the blonde yet. He had been supposed to be there the day before, hadn't he? What if he had been more wounded than they had thought?

_Come on, stop worrying you big baby! What's up with you all of a sudden? It's just a damn kid. Just like all else of them, why would this kid make such a difference in the world, Axel?_

Axel grimaced slightly and felt that it was kind of right. He never used to care so much about someone he just had met. Not even persons he had hurt by mistake. Usually he would just have let the person's friends take care of him/her or take him/her to the nurse and then leave. Never worry like he did now. What if the kid had gotten much worse? He sighed sadly to himself, everything around him felt like a distant buzzing.

"Great. Axel is still spaced out," Demyx stated and sighed before he pushed some fries into his mouth and looked at his friend who just distantly stared out into nothingness, "If I didn't know better I'd think he had brain damage or something."

Zack grinned as he threw a look at Axel, "Maybe he's still thinking about that Roxas kid, he's been acting kinda weird since that incident."

Demyx shrugged and then looked at Naminé, "The kid was supposed to show up yesterday, right?" he asked with tilted head.

"Yes... Aerith said so but maybe he wasn't feeling well enough to come?" Naminé suggested before turning her attention to her food again.

Then Axel snapped out of his thoughts, "What if I really did kill him?!" he asked with wide eyes as Naminé stated this, "Maybe he got some fucked up internal bleeding and died when no one was home with him!"

Demyx let out a chuckle and shook his head, "Ax, you're so overreacting. And what's with the worry? You are acting kind of weird," he said with an amused smile at seeing his friend in such a state of panic and worry.

Axel frowned and crossed his arms in a defensive way, "I am not acting weird," he stated with a glare.

_They're so seeing through your lies, and you know it._

Axel cursed himself as his friends chuckled at his face expression, "Okay, okay! Maybe I am overreacting and acting a little bit weird, but-,"

"Lookie, there he is!" Demyx said and pointed at a mop of blonde hair in the line of the cafeteria.

Axel immediately jumped up from his seat and frantically scanned the line to get a look of the blonde kid he had wanted to see since he had driven away from his house. Leaving him with a goofy smile on his face. Ah! There, he saw the blonde!

"Yes! He's back!" Axel did a small victory dance from the place he stood at which just made people nearby turn and look at him as if he was crazy, but the redhead didn't care about that. He was different, so what? His friends couldn't help laughing at Axel, but covered it up pretty good.

But as soon as Axel had stopped his internal and outer cheering he looked for the blonde again only to see his retreating back, heading away from the cafeteria. But no way was he letting the blonde get away now. With determination Axel threw a look at his friends before he sprinted after Roxas. He was so not getting away, not after having Axel worry for days and nights!

* * *

Roxas groaned loudly as he got his clothes on and hurried out to the kitchen where Cloud sat at the table, drinking his coffee. He looked up at Roxas in surprise.

"What are you doing up?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and put down his cup of coffee.

Roxas glared at his brother as he was inwardly screaming at Cloud, "School. It's past 11 am! Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked in irritation as he hurried out to the hall to get his shoes on.

Cloud opened his mouth as he saw Roxas move out to the hall in just a matter of a few seconds, "Uh, you could have cracked your skull open, you know!" he said as he hurried after, attempting to stop Roxas, "And you haven't eaten yet!"

Roxas rolled his eyes as he looked at Cloud, "You made me stay home yesterday when I was supposed to go to school. I am going today! And it's lunch time in school," he said with determination, "Do me a favour and give me a ride, would you?" he then asked weakly as he looked at Cloud with pleading eyes.

Cloud sighed but put on his helmet and then handed Roxas the other helmet. It seemed that Roxas would make his way to school even if he'd refuse to drive him there. But better make sure he'd get to school unharmed.

Soon they were out and Cloud got up on the bike with ease, and as usual, while Roxas had some troubles and gripped at Cloud as soon as they started moving.

'I can't believe he wants to keep me home like this...' he thought sourly but then his expression softened slightly. After all Cloud had a good reason to care as much as he did. Roxas couldn't really blame him for caring.

After 10 minutes they were settled at school and Roxas were fast to jump of the bike, waving at Cloud and cut him of before he could say anything at all, "Yeah, I'll make sure to be careful and call if something happens, have a great day!" he said and with that he pretty much ran into the school. He wasn't going to listen to Cloud's worried ranting. He hated to be treated like a seven-year-old when he actually was 16, soon 17.

He sighed as he walked into the cafeteria. It was filled with people, both at the tables and in the line. But he didn't see anyone at the preps table. Maybe they had eaten already or were on their way to eat. Not that Roxas cared; he wasn't going to eat with them. Ever. Next sight he caught was the table where the redhead, Axel, and his friends sat. He could see that Axel seemed to be staring at nothing while his friends talked around him.

As he moved in line he contemplated going up to them since they had seemed to be nice. But he didn't really want to just barge in on them and their talking. Maybe they had just been nice to him because he had been hurt last time they talked?  
With a sigh Roxas bought himself a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice before he decided to head out of the cafeteria. He didn't have the guts to get up to Axel and his friends. Yes, Roxas was a coward when it came to being social and taking the first step. He could admit that.

"Yo!" a loud voice suddenly said next to Roxas ear and a hand grabbed a hold of his elbow which made the blonde almost jump out of his skin as he whipped around with wide eyes.

He met a pair of green eyes and a wide and white grin, "Heh, I seem to be good at scaring you," Axel said and grinned as he, without warning, pulled Roxas toward his table.

Roxas opened up his mouth just to manage to stutter out an incoherent answer that made no sense at all, suddenly he was pulled down beside Axel and quickly looked around and saw the smiling and grinning faces of Axel's friends.

"Can you talk or did I really break you?" Axel asked jokingly after a while as he poked Roxas's forehead which made the blonde open his mouth again before blushing. Axel smirked at this, realizing that Demyx had been right about Roxas being really shy... This could prove to be pretty fun.

"N-no, I am perfectly fine," Roxas managed to stutter out as he fought back the blush that threatened to take over his whole face.

Axel chuckled and some of his friends joined in, "Good to hear!"

"Yeah, Axel was all worked up since you didn't come yesterday," Demyx said and laughed, "He thought he had killed you."

"Was not," Axel said with a glare at Demyx, daring him to say anything more.

Naminé giggled as she looked at her annoyed friend, "Oh please, you went really excited when you saw him in the line."

"Uh... Well... I am alive and all," Roxas mumbled before looking up, "My brother didn't let me go yesterday, he's kind of... overprotective."

Zack let out a laugh and looked at Roxas, "Cloud being overprotective? That's something new," he said and took a bite of his burger.

Roxas blinked as he looked back at the raven haired man, "Uh... You know Cloud?" he then asked carefully.

"Of course, didn't I say that three days ago, Monday you know?" Zack asked after he had swallowed the food in his mouth.

Roxas frowned as he looked down at the table surface for a while, being in deep thought. He could barely remember what had happened that day. He knew that he had been taken to the nurse with the help of Axel and his friends. And that they had talked some but it was really fuzzy, and somehow it scared Roxas a bit. He didn't like it when parts of his memory were kind of blank.

"...I don't really recall much from Monday," Roxas stated after a while, with a shrug, "But I am not the one to blame, right?" he then said and threw a look at Axel.

Axel scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, "Sorry about that... Guess I didn't really apologize appropriately. Sorry Roxas, never meant for you to fall down."

Demyx snorted and then said something that he covered with a cough. To Roxas it sounded something like idiot. And judging by Zexion's smirk it definitely was something along that way.

"Nah," Roxas then mumbled as he took a bite of his sandwich, "I guess I shouldn't have fallen asleep up in that tree... It just happened," he said with a shrug.

"So... Is your head fine?" the blonde girl named Naminé asked with a soft and caring voice, "You seemed so confused after the fall..." she then said and trailed of.

Roxas smiled somewhat and nodded, "Yeah... Just a little bit dizzy, but I guess that's normal since I hit my head pretty hard."

"Good to hear that, then I wont have to worry," she said with relief in her voice, Roxas was quite surprised to hear that she had been that worried about him. They didn't even know him and yet they had all seemed to be pretty worried. Uh well... Everyone except Zexion... But he seemed to not show off many emotions.

_Sure they worry, but just because they didn't want the blame if you had been hurt worse than that._

Roxas sighed very lightly at the voice in the back of his head. That might be true as well. Maybe they would ignore him from now on; it would be for the best to not have any hopes up high.

"So what in hell did you do in the tree?" Axel then asked as he stuffed some fries into his mouth, looking at Roxas with an interested look.

"I ate lunch," Roxas said and sighed, "Then I just got kind of tired and climbed higher up."

"Don't you know Sora and his gang? Why didn't you eat with them?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow. And at their mention they actually walked into the cafeteria, everyone looking as preppy as usual. Ugh... All of 'the different' hated their way. They tolerated Sora because he was friendly with pretty much everyone and did no harm. He was simply running everywhere Riku went.

Roxas sighed deeply and looked up from the table and met Riku's eyes. And God did he give Roxas a killer glare or what? Even Sora looked over at him, but more with uncertainty and a little bit of hurt in his eyes.

"I think it's enough getting glared at from a distance," Roxas said, still not letting his eye contact with Riku break, daring the other one to break it before him, "Sora's all right but I... I can't say I like his friends," he then said with a sigh as he gave up and looked away from Riku, still feeling his glare burn into his skull, making his head ache once more.

Axel gave a slight nod as he looked Riku's way and then glared at the silver haired teen who rolled his eyes and angrily strode off to the table he and the rest of their gang sat.

"Well, sorry to say it but we have ruined your chances of befriending them," Demyx stated and gave a slight sympathetic look but smiled a small smile either way.

Roxas simply shrugged, "Doesn't matter. If I'd sit with them they'd just fake being nice and all and I hate people faking like that. The only one who'd be honest is Sora. The rest of them... I'd never share a table with anyone of them."

"Well said, Roxas, well said," Demyx said with a nod as he took a big gulp of his coke and then relaxed in the chair, "Those preps think they own the place."

Axel snorted and rolled his eyes, "Some of them almost do, many of their oh so rich parents own parts of the company that runs the school. Then they think they rule this place and that's not cool," he stated and shook his head.

The other mumbled their agreements as they concentrated on the food they ate. Roxas just gave a slight nod even though he had had no idea about the rich parents' part.

After a while the silence was broken by a certain redhead, why wasn't Roxas surprised over the fact that Axel was the one to break the silence?

"So Roxas, how come you moved here of all places in the world? I heard you lived in Hollow Bastion before," Axel asked as he looked at Roxas, once more with interest in his eyes, "I mean... This is like... A pretty small place."

Roxas opened his mouth and then blinked. What was he supposed to say? Should he pull a lie or tell the truth?

_Come on Rox, you shouldn't make yourself into a liar just like this. You can just... Leave out some parts about the truth. There, no harm done?_

"I... There was some problems in my last school," Roxas said as he looked down at the table, suddenly really interested in all the spots he could find. He didn't like talking about it but he didn't want to end up all alone again, and honesty was good if you wanted friends, right?

Axel raised an eyebrow as he listened and waited for more. His friends were also listening from their own talking, "Problems?" Axel repeated with slightly tilted head.

"Y-yeah," Roxas mumbled, "Some people didn't really like me and..." he trailed of and rubbed his left temple.

"You got bullied?" Axel then pretty much more stated than asked, his eyes were slightly narrowed.

Roxas grimaced slightly and nodded. It was true after all, even though it wasn't the big reason he had moved, it was close enough, "It got out of hand after a while."

"Out of hand like in... fighting?" Demyx asked, not so interested in his food any longer, and even Zexion had lifted his face from the book he had been reading, to see what it was about.

Roxas gave a slight nod, "Yeah, some fighting and many threats."

Axel growled slightly, to Roxas surprise, and then shook his head in frustration as he crossed his arms, "I hate schools like that. Why is it that the bullied student always is the one who has to leave?" he asked and sighed in annoyance, swearing under his breath.

Roxas blinked as he looked at Axel. The redhead was for sure special. He had no idea what made the redhead seem to care about him... But he kind of liked it.

"It was more my choice than theirs though," Roxas muttered, "I hated that school. Felt like everyone were like... them," he said and directed his eyes at Riku and the others.

"Ouch man, then I'd have left as soon as I got the chance to as well," Demyx said with a grimace on his face, "But you know, there's always space at our table!" he then cheerfully said, "As long as you don't work as a prep in disguise!"

Roxas rolled his eyes and looked at Demyx, "Seriously, do you think they'd still be glaring at me if I was with them?" he asked. And yes, Riku was still working on burning a hole through Roxas's skull. And if Roxas didn't know better he'd think he started to actually get a hole in his skull. His head was aching after all, and if it was because of his little trip down the tree or because of Riku's glaring, he didn't know.

Demyx blinked as he looked back to see if it was true. And of course it was.

"I swear, one day I am going to kill that damn Riku," Axel growled as he glared at said silver haired boy who now glared at Axel instead, "At least gonna pluck his eyes out. I don't see what's so darn fantastic about his eyes like all the girls see. All he's good at is fucking glaring at people," he stated with a pissed of look on his face.

Demyx snorted and then gave a nod as he once more turned his attention to his food.

Roxas simply sighed and ignored Riku, who apparently had changed glaring target. But his head was still aching so he shuffled through the stuff in his bag and got a hold of the bottle of pills Aerith had given him. One at mornings, one at lunch and one before bed. With a slight grimace he put the pill in his mouth and downed it with his juice. Ugh, he hated swallowing pills. And yet he had to do so pretty often. For several reasons.

"Your head still hurts?" Axel then asked when he noticed that Roxas had been swallowing a pill.

Roxas shrugged, "Yeah, but not so much. My back is a bit worse though," he answered which was true. It hurt like hell to get up from sitting to standing and back to sitting down. His head was fine as long as he didn't make any sudden movements.

"Ouch."

"Uh-huh," Roxas said with a nod.

"So... What's your brother up to?" Zack then asked with a grin on his face, "Last time I saw him he dropped out of his senior year and left town."

Roxas blinked a few times. Ah right. He had almost forgotten about Cloud dropping out of school, "He's working down at the Sandlot for the moment, said something about damage being fixed."

"Aha. Then I might go by and scare the living daylights out of him!" Zack said with a wide grin, "No one pulls a disappearing act on me unpunished!"

Axel groaned and closed his eyes, "Zack, with your personality I'd not be surprised if people suddenly disappeared."

Zack made a very offended face expression at that, "Are you the one to talk, Ax?" he then asked with an evil smirk plastered on his face, "I mean, you scare people out of trees..."

Roxas blushed slightly of this, "That was more my fault..." he mumbled as he took a last bite of his sandwich.

At this everyone looked at Roxas as if he was crazy.

_You for sure are normal, Roxas... I can't believe I am a part of you._

"Hell, Roxas, stop worrying about that!" Axel said and let out a short laugh, "It wasn't your fault at all, I was being an idiot when I woke you up, should have known it was a bad idea."

"Sor-,"

Demyx laughed and shook his head before Roxas had time to finish, "You're apologizing too much, relax!" he said and grinned widely.

"I am?" Roxas said questioningly, "I... I guess I haven't been thinking so much about it..."

"Yeah, I mean... It's totally on me that you fell down that tree," Axel said with a grin on his face.

Roxas gave a weak smile as he drank the last of his juice and then sighed lightly. He felt a bit uncomfortable. He hadn't exactly lied when he had told Sora that he didn't feel good while eating with people. It had nothing to do with the persons he sat with. Axel and his friends seemed to be really nice actually.

"How do you know Sora?" Zexion then asked which made Roxas's brain almost stop functioning.

How did he know Sora? Was Roxas supposed to be able to answer that? He hadn't any idea about how to answer the question. He should have known that something would go wrong like this.

_Aw, Roxas is starting to panic, isn't that right?_

Roxas looked at Zexion who patiently awaited an answer that didn't come; Roxas opened his mouth to say something when...

"Holy shit!" Demyx said loudly as he looked at the watch, "I and you, Roxas, got our lesson in five minutes!" he said as he abruptly stood up and looked at Roxas who stared at him, "Yeah, I took my liberty to check up your classes!" he then added with a grin on his face when he saw Roxas's confused facial expression.

Axel looked from Roxas to Demyx and then gave Roxas a slight pinch, "You better run, or you two will get killed by Vexen," he said with a grin as Roxas stumbled up from his chair and was grabbed by Demyx who pretty much ran away with Roxas, shouting a quick good bye.

Out in the hall Roxas finally got a hold of the situation as they reached the lockers, "What class is it?" Roxas asked in slight confusion as he opened up his locker.

"Chemistry! And if we are late Vexen might kill us!" he then said as he closed his locker and Roxas did the same before once more being dragged away by Demyx.

* * *

Once Roxas and Demyx got out from their classroom both of them let out relieved sighs. The class had been horrible. Of course they had been late. By two minutes. But apparently that was enough to tick the teacher off and they had gotten a really bad scolding and some nasty threats involving acid and fire, and of course Demyx and Roxas as test subjects. Demyx had managed to get them out from detention by pulling a lie how he helped Roxas who was new. Vexen obviously wanted to punish them further but he couldn't argue about the point of helping a new student.

"Oh hell... Thank God that you are new or we'd both be test subjects or something like that!" Demyx said and wiped his forehead as he let out a sigh.

Roxas laughed nervously, not entirely sure that it was a joke; he wouldn't be surprised if Vexen used his students as test subjects... Well, despite Vexen being the scariest teacher Roxas had met in his life the lesson had been okay. And Demyx was happy to have Roxas in the same class since he himself sucked at chemistry while Roxas was good at it.

"Well, we better meet up with Axel; he has the next lesson with us!" Demyx happily said and looked at Roxas, "Oh... Uh, I am sorry if I'm being annoying, you probably don't want to be dragged around like this but it's really-,"

"It's fine, you aren't annoying," Roxas said with a smile on his face, "And I don't really know how to get to my classes anyway so I don't mind." he then continued with a slight laugh.

Demyx grinned as they once more reached the lockers and switched books, this time for math. Ugh, how Roxas hated math. Not because he was bad at it. He was excellent in math; he simply found it to be boring as hell. He'd even go back to Vexen's chemistry lesson instead of math.

"Well you're lucky then! It seems I've got pretty much the same schedule as you!"

"Good, then I won't have to get lost," Roxas said and chuckled as he looked up and saw Demyx make a small happy dance only to later be smacked on his head by Axel who had appeared out of nowhere.

Demyx let out a whine as Axel smacked him again with a smirk on his face, "What's that for?!"

"For being a goof," Axel replied with a grin on his face, "What makes you do a happy dance just like that, huh?" Not that Axel was one to talk since he had done a happy dance in the cafeteria, when he had spotted Roxas, but he didn't know that.

Demyx huffed, "Cause thanks to Roxas being new we got out of trouble for getting to Vexen's lesson late."

Axel grimaced at the thought of Vexen. Axel was probably the student in school who hated Vexen most of everything. And Vexen hated Axel with a passion. Of course there was a damn good reason behind this mutual hate...

"You got lucky," Axel simply said as he then locked his own locker and sighed, "Well, math then," he said with a slight mutter, "God, I hate math."

"I bet Roxas is good at it! He totally made me understand my chemistry which I have never done before!" Demyx happily said which made Roxas blush again.

"Uh... I'm not that good," he mumbled as he headed after the two much taller boys. Why was he so short? He damned Cloud for being the tall brother. He damned his genes for not making him taller as well.

Demyx grinned as he patted Roxas's back, "Not even Zexion could make me understand that isotope stuff."

Axel's eyes widened as he turned to look at both Demyx and Roxas, "You made Dem actually understand chemistry when even Zexion can't do that?" he asked in disbelief, staring at Roxas.

Roxas shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "I guess I did."

Demyx just grinned widely, "I fucking can explain to Zexion how it works, I can't wait to see his face, HA!" he said and made a small jump with a look of triumph on his face.

Axel smirked and shook his head as he threw an amused look at Roxas who just smiled back and then chuckled at Demyx being all over excited.

* * *

Thankfully the math lesson didn't take as long time as Roxas had thought it would it was actually over pretty fast.

"Well then. That was one day closer to the weekend!" Demyx chirped.

"For you, some people got work right after this shit," Axel said with a glare at Demyx.

"Come on! It's Friday tomorrow, you can't be mad!" Demyx said with a grin on his face, "Right, Roxie?"

Roxas sent a glare at Demyx which made the teen squeak, "Call me Roxie one more time and-,"

"Sorry! Roxas, it's Roxas!" Demyx said and grinned sheepishly.

Axel smirked as they headed out of the school. So Roxas could get pissed of if he wanted to. He had almost thought that Roxas couldn't get angry or be determined.  
Well, there were a lot of things for Axel to find out about Roxas. And he'd be happy to explore Roxas's nature and personality, he almost thought of it as some kind of challenge. He wanted to get to know Roxas better; there was something special about him.  
And if there was one of them who was more different then all of them put together, it was Roxas. Axel was pretty much sure of it.

* * *

**A/N:** And that was chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed, even though it was a bit choppy from time to time. Soon I think I'll speed up things a little bit, as in making Axel and Roxas get a bit closer. I just need to get a way of not making it too sudden.  
And today it's me and Cloud asking for reviews!

**Cloud:** Review, **please**. -grabs buster sword and smiles sweetly-

I don't think they like being threatened, Cloud...


	4. Chapter 4

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N: **Okay, I know I said a week last time, right? XD Once more, I am far too nice for my own good. But I have a deal with myself, I'll only upload new chapters as long as I have two more chapters already finished, that way I can assure you guys, and me, that I am not running out of chapters! Am I not fantastic?! Well, on with it, I guess you guys don't feel like listening to me ranting all day long. Now I am gonna upload this, and then get some well deserved sleep since school have been killing me!

**Thanks to: ****Plain Jane Is A Vampire**, **Mantineus**, **Kristen Hiwatari**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Suna's Assassin**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **keiyoku** and **Mord Sith Matt**. Thanks for reviewing!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + sidepairings: Zemyx/Dexion, ZackCloud(?) and perhaps RiSo), swearing, future lemons, future violence.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kingdom Hearts. All AkuRoku fans would be having nosebleeds while playing if I owned it. (Square Enix and Disney own KH, sadly)

**!!!EDIT (3 February 2009)!!!:  
**A big thanks to **Trainra** for beta reading and correcting misstakes in this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Ah... A soft breeze was cooling him down as he laid in the green grass just enjoying the sun. He loved these days. To just be able to relax in the warm sun, enjoying a summer day as it should be. No school, no need to get up and no need to worry about anything. Simply said it was amazing.  
Roxas felt how a smile tugged at his lips as he opened his eyes and looked up into the clear blue sky. He would do anything for days like this. Everything was perfect, he couldn't dream about having a better day than this. So amazing. He wished he could stay like this forever.

But what does last forever...?

"**ROXAS!**"

With a sharp intake of breath Roxas tumbled down off his bed and met the oh so welcoming and hard floor. He groaned loudly at the pain that shot up his back but despite this he actually pushed himself up in sitting position and looked at the clock on his desk. It said 7:00 am. Oh joy.

"Roooooxaaaaasss!"

Roxas let out an annoyed sound as he put on a pair of black pants along with a black and white striped t-shirt and tied the hoodie he had worn the first day of school around his waist.

"I'm on my way!" Roxas called before Cloud had time to interrupt him again. He hated being interrupted while putting on his eyeliner. Cause if he'd mess up he would have to wash it off and then put it on again. And that could be a darn annoying process, especially early in the morning when he just had woken up. Roxas wasn't a morning person.

'Just a little bit more...' Roxas thought to himself as he looked into the mirror, being very precise with how much eyeliner he used. He didn't want too much but not to little either, just enough to make it look... good. After this he gave a nod of approval to himself and then headed out and into the kitchen where Cloud as usual stood by the kitchen counter, preparing breakfast.

Cloud turned to take a look at his younger brother, "You always stubbornly putting on that eyeliner sure takes a long time," he said with a raised eyebrow before he turned his attention to breakfast again.

"Well I don't put all my energy on my hair like a certain someone does," Roxas replied with crossed arms, but as soon as this had left his mouth he knew he had lost his point.

Cloud chuckled, "You know as much as I that our hairs are living their own lives," he said, and yeah, Roxas knew it was true. They didn't really have to do much about it. It simply defied gravity on its own, no hair products needed.

"Whatever," Roxas muttered as he got served a plate of toast and some scrambled eggs.

"Eat," Cloud simply said before he started cleaning up after himself and later sat down at the table with a cup of coffee, "So, you know, I'll maybe have to go away during the weekend and for a few more days..." he said after a while, looking at Roxas with slight worry.

Roxas looked up at Cloud and gave a slight nod, "Okay... Is it work?" he then asked as he took a bite of his toast and swallowed it down along with some tea.

"Yes. Seems they want some help fixing stuff in Kalm, and since I know the town they want me to go there," he said and shrugged, "But they aren't sure about how long it will take."

"Then I know," Roxas said with a slight nod, "And don't worry about me, I can make it on my own," he then added.

"I am just worried about you not eating properly," Cloud said with a frown on his face.

Roxas rolled his eyes as he ate up the last of his toast and scrambled eggs and with that gave Cloud a smug look since he had eaten it all. At this it was Cloud's turn to roll his eyes.

"Way to go," Cloud muttered, "Now I can worry about you not making the food."

Roxas sighed and then looked at his brother, "And this is when you as the good brother you are make me lunch boxes," he said with a sparkling smile on his face. And it actually made Cloud's eyes widen for a while. It had been years ago since he saw Roxas smile like that. Maybe this smile wasn't truly genuine but it was for sure on its way. Roxas seemed happier than he had been in a long time.

"And what do I get for that?" Cloud asked after a while with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you don't have to come home to find me starved to death..." Roxas stated as he stood up and this time cleaned his own dishes. He was actually feeling pretty happy today. He knew that he could get to school and not be scared of being all alone. Axel had actually told him to sit with them at lunch, and if Roxas had the same class as anyone of them he was free to sit with them as well. He couldn't deny that he liked these people.

Cloud sighed as he looked at his much more cheerful brother.

"And Cloud..." Roxas said and turned to look at his older copy, "I'd watch my back at work these days," he then added with a smile on his face and turned back to cleaning up the kitchen.

Cloud frowned and looked at his brother. What in hell was that supposed to mean? Watch his back for what or who exactly?

"And no, I am not telling," Roxas said before Cloud had a chance to ask him what it was about.

"Whatever," Cloud muttered, obviously not able to hide his slight disappointment which only made Roxas smile wider, "Get ready, I have to drop you off at school earlier today, and no complaining!" Cloud added as he headed out to the hall and started to get dressed for the ordinary ride.

Roxas sighed as he finished the dishes and then made his way to the hall as well. This meant he had to wander the school for almost an hour. But well, he could go through with that.

* * *

Once Roxas had entered the school he let out a shaky sigh of relief. Cloud had made it clear that he was a bit annoyed by Roxas not telling him what he had meant about the 'watching his back' thing. He had driven like a maniac, almost causing Roxas to puke on his brother.

"God... I hate that bike..." Roxas said and groaned as he went up to his locker and took a look at his schedule. His first lesson of the day would be history. History with Demyx and Naminé actually. Oh... And Sora. Roxas wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He would sit with Demyx, he knew as much as that. But would Sora be hurt...? But well, it wasn't Sora's choice right? And Sora had been the one telling Roxas to stay away from Axel and his kind, when Roxas in fact was more one of their kind than Sora and the preps.

"Ugh... Great," Roxas muttered as he shut the locker and looked at his cell phone to check the time. It was only 7.35. Which meant he had 50 minutes of nothing to do. Yay.

With a slight sigh Roxas headed away from the lockers and wandered aimlessly. There weren't many students in the building so far. Who would get to school early by free will, huh?

_You would, aren't you dying to see your friends yet? And Axel is kind of hot. What do you say, Rox?_

'I don't have anything to say,' Roxas thought with a frown on his face as he sat down and sighed once again, deciding to shut out the annoying voice in the back of his head.

After a while Roxas decided to sit down by a small table near the entrance of the school. There he'd be able to spot Axel or some of his friends if they entered. And they'd probably spot him as well. With a slight sigh Roxas opened his notebook and started doodling a bit. But this didn't last long before Roxas noticed someone sitting down in front of him. He slowly lifted his eyes to see who this person was.

"Sora...?" he said and blinked as he looked at the brunette who sat in front of him with a slightly disturbed look on his face.

"Hey, Roxas," Sora said and gave a weak, but at least not fake, smile, "Where have you been these days?" he then asked softly, "I just saw you a little yesterday..."

Roxas blinked slowly, "O-oh... Yeah," Roxas said, "I fell down a tree at lunch and got a concussion... Kind of at least," he mumbled with a slight blush on his face.

"What? How the... What?" Sora repeated in confusion, "How did that happen?"

Roxas scratched his head, "I fell asleep pretty high up... And Axel woke me up but I was so surprised that I fell out of the tree. So he took me to the nurse and then drove me home," he explained cautiously, awaiting any reaction from Sora at the mention of Axel.

Sora made a slight face as he looked around nervously, "Yeah... About that... Roxas, remember what I said about Axel and his kind...?" he warily asked as he looked at Roxas.

"I do remember what you told me," Roxas said with a slight nod but he didn't wear an impressed look on his face, more like an expression that expected something from Sora. Something like a good explanation why he should stay away from Axel and his friends.

Sora sighed and fiddled at the end of the table, "Then... Uh... Why where you sitting with them?" he then asked.

"Cause they're nice," Roxas stated with a shrug, "They helped me and Axel dragged me off to sit with them," He then added.

"Roxas, this is not to be mean or anything but... I think you're making a mistake," Sora said as he looked down at the surface of the table. Roxas had a feeling that Sora wasn't the one behind this, more likely Riku and company. He could only imagine what pressure Riku had put on Sora, probably something in the style of: 'You can't see him if he's one of them.'

"You think I am?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow, "How come Sora?" he then asked. Even though he suspected Riku, he knew that Sora had his own will. If he didn't want to do this, he didn't have to. So he wasn't going to let the brunette off the hook easily.

"Come on, we've known each other for a long time, right?" Sora said with a pleading look, "They... They are just not good you know, they're different," he then quietly said, still looking ashamed of himself.

Roxas sighed deeply and shook his head as he collected his books and grabbed his bag. Looking at Sora with a slight look of pity on his face, "I am sorry Sora. I like you but honestly... I don't like your friends. And I think Axel and his friends are really nice," he said as he tried to make the brunette understand what he was saying.

Sora grimaced slightly as he looked at Roxas, "Roxas... But-,"

"And I... I am different as well," Roxas then said with a sigh, "I'm sorry Sora but I think I have changed a lot more than you think since last time we met."

Sora gave a sigh of defeat and looked down to the floor, "Yeah... You have." he said and shook his head as he wandered of.

"I really am sorry, Sora," Roxas then said softly at Sora's back.

"Me too, Roxas. I am afraid you'll regret it, and I have to say that don't come running to us when they ditch you," he then said with a slight edge of bitterness in his voice.

This made Roxas raise an eyebrow and cross his arms, "I think it would have been the other way," he said shortly as he turned around and walked the other way. And then he saw a flash of red in the corner of his eyes. He turned his eyes and met the emerald green eyes that threw him a questioning look. Roxas simply shrugged and gave a half smile before he kept walking. He just had to let out some steam, even if it meant just walking around. He couldn't really start screaming or hit something in school. Or well, he could but then he'd just end up in the principal's office, and what's the point of that?

How could Sora even dare to try to talk him out of being with the people he wanted to be with, and was that last thing Sora said, was it meant to scare him or threaten him? It would most likely be the preps ditching him since they didn't like him for real. At least Axel and his friends seemed to have taken a liking to Roxas, a lot more than the preps had at least.

After a good ten minutes of pondering Roxas found himself in a part of school he hadn't been in before. Great, he was officially lost and had no one he could call about it... Fan-**fucking**-tastic.

"Yo, Roxas!" a voice then called from a distance, making him turn around to see Axel standing there with an amused expression, "I think you're in the wrong damn place," he then stated with a grin.

"You don't mean that," Roxas said in a mutter as he headed up to Axel and then gave him his best puppy dog eyes, "Then can you help me find my way back?"

Axel felt how his heart skipped a beat at seeing Roxas's big, blue eyes look at him with such a pleading look, "Of course," he said when he had composed himself, "Why did you wander away in first place, huh? Saw you talking to Sora," he then said with a raised eyebrow.

Roxas grimaced and shrugged, "We just cleared some things up about me living my own life," he said dryly.

"Hm? Tried to make you join them, huh?"

"Something like that. Said that I'd regret sitting with you guys and that I shouldn't go crawling to them later," Roxas said and shrugged again, "I don't care really... It's just a pity that Sora is with those kinds of people," he then muttered.

Axel gave a slight sigh as they walked through the school and got back to where their lockers were. Now more people starting to get into the school, "It's too bad really."

Roxas sighed and shrugged before he put on a smile when he saw Demyx wave at them by the lockers, "Uh... See you later?" Roxas then said questioningly since Axel was having another lesson.

Axel grinned and nodded, "Yeah, you aren't getting away from me that easily. Probably at lunch," he said and ruffled Roxas's hair before walking of, leaving the smaller teen blushing slightly.

With another sigh Roxas headed over to Demyx who was standing beside Zexion, happily jumping like it was Christmas or something like that.

"Roxas, Roxas, Roxas!" he chanted as he all of a sudden glomped Roxas once he was in reach of Demyx, Zexion sighed as Roxas hit the ground with a bundle of joy on top of him. Demyx was apparently very forward with showing his emotions.

Roxas groaned as he met the floor. He had certainly not completely recovered yet from his fall down the tree and it hurt pretty bad to hit the floor like that, "Demyx..." he said warily, "Nice to see you too."

Demyx grinned as he looked at Roxas who looked a bit bothered, "Roxas! Is something wrong?" he then asked with slight concern.

"... Kind of," Roxas muttered, "You know... Remember that I fell down a tree a few days ago? I happen to have some pain left."

"Demyx, get of off him, do you want to make him get a concussion again?" Zexion asked tiredly as he pulled Demyx off of Roxas who took his chance to get up, albeit with some difficulty.

He hissed as he stood upright and stretched a bit.

"Sorry, Roxie, I am sor-,"

Roxas moaned as he closed his eyes, "You're forgiven as long as you don't call me that name."

Demyx grinned and threw an arm around Roxas's shoulder which once more made the teenager wince in pain, "Thanks you, Roxas!"

Zexion rolled his eyes as he grabbed Demyx and pulled him away from Roxas, he himself stood in-between them, "I think you just shouldn't be close to him, for safety," Zexion said with a smirk as he looked at Roxas who gave a slight chuckle, "If he's being any trouble just tell me and I'll see what I can do."

"I'll make sure to remember that," Roxas said and looked at Demyx who had a pout on his face.

"Heeey, I am not that bad!"

"Demyx, you don't want to know," Zexion said calmly, not looking at the pouting teen, "And I am sure Roxas wouldn't mind as much if he wasn't hurt from the fall. You have to use your pretty little head and actually _think_ before you _act,_" he then said and gave Demyx a slight poke to his forehead, with a small affectionate smile on his lips.

Roxas couldn't help smiling. He guessed that they had some kind of close relationship judging by the way Zexion handled and looked at Demyx.

"Aw... But I can think!" Demyx said brightly, "I know that isotope stuff now, thanks to Roxas!" he said with a wide grin on his face, making Zexion look from Demyx to Roxas in surprise.

"You... You managed to make him understand?" he asked in disbelief, "You actually made him, Demyx, of all people, understand something like chemistry?" he then repeated with wide eyes.

Roxas smiled sheepishly, "I guess so... I just made some simple drawings and some small notes, and with some explanation he got it," Roxas said softly.

Demyx smiled happily as he showed Zexion the notes Roxas had made him. It looked really simple. The drawings were drawn so that probably a 7 year old could even understand them. And it came with step by step explanations.

Zexion smirked and clicked his tongue behind his teeth before looking at Roxas, "Smart move, I guess the advanced ways aren't always the best way to explain to Demyx. I should have thought about this."

"Yeah, sometimes the most idiotic way is the right way," Roxas said with a shrug as he looked at Demyx who was still smiling widely at being able to understand his chemistry.

"Well, I have to give you some credits for that," Zexion said as he then gave Demyx a quick hug which Demyx replied to and then let go, "Gotta go, my philosophy starts soon," he said and gave a wave before he headed away.

Demyx let out a happy sigh as he then hooked arms with Roxas and started dragging him to his classroom, "Isn't he wonderful?" he then asked with a goofy face expression.

Roxas blinked and looked at Demyx, "You mean Zexion?" he asked.

Demyx nodded with a grin on his face, "We're kind of together, so you know, don't want you to freak out if you see us kissing or something. Never know about people these days," he said and sighed, "Some people are real homophobes."

Roxas gave a small smile, "That's all right," he said softly, "I wouldn't give a shit if you started making out or something," he then added.

"Huh? That's great!" Demyx said with a grin, "So, you swinging that way as well?" he then asked with a mischievous look on his face which soon turned to a sheepish grin, "You totally don't have to answer something that personal."

Roxas sighed as a slight blush crept up on his face, "Actually I'm not really sure," he said and scratched his head, "I got out of the closet about a year ago, but kind of stayed half way in... But I think I always have been swinging more for boys," he then added in a slight mumble, to make sure only Demyx heard him.

Demyx aww'ed and smiled at Roxas, "Well, I know someone who will be happy to hear that," he said more to himself than to Roxas.

"Huh? You said something?" Roxas asked with a frown, not sure about what he had heard.

Demyx laughed and shook his head, "Nothing, Roxas, nothing," he said and grinned as he pulled Roxas into the empty classroom, or well, Leon sat in the front.

Said teacher immediately looked up from some papers and raised his eyebrows at seeing the blonde back again, "Roxas, so you're back." He said with a slight smile as he and Demyx sat down.

"Yeah..." Roxas said and blushed slightly, "Did..."

"Zexion said something very vaguely about a tree. Involving you and Axel," Leon said with a frown on his face, "What happened?"

Roxas sighed as Demyx giggled, "I fell asleep in a tree and Axel happened to wake me up... I was thrown off guard and simply fell down."

"How high up where you?" Leon continued.

"About 4-6 meters," Roxas said with a shrug.

Leon grimaced slightly at that, "You must have hit your head pretty hard then..." he said and trailed off as Roxas nodded.

"He was totally out of it!" Demyx said and grinned, "And Axel was in panic mode, he thought he had killed Roxas!" he then happily said.

Leon sent a small glare at Demyx, "Well, he could really have died if it isn't for the fact that we've got grass on the ground."

The discussion didn't go any further than this since students started to walk in. Roxas immediately felt how Riku glared at him once more. And Sora was looking pretty downbeat for the moment. He was definatly thinking about what to do in his current situation. After a while Naminé sat down on Roxas's other side with a smile on her face and the lesson started.

* * *

"Man! Why must Leon give homework every time?" Demyx whined with crossed arms, "I hate homework with a passion!" he then exclaimed as they headed for another classroom, this time the art class, which Roxas actually looked forward to. He was thinking of starting at an art college after high school.

Naminé simple giggled, "So you won't forget the work," she said as they stopped for a while, looking at Demyx who sighed, "Well, we'll see you at lunch, right?" she then asked with a smile on her face.

"Of course, where else?" he asked with a grin before he bounced away towards his boyfriend who he had spotted in a corridor.

"So, Demyx isn't taking art?" Roxas asked as they continued to wander for the right classroom.

Naminé laughed and shook her head, "He can't draw even if his life would depend on it. He's good at music though," she said and smiled as she waved at a familiar redhead who was heading their way as well, "Hi, Axel," she said when said redhead was up by them.

"Hey, so Roxie is taking art as well, huh?" he questioned as he looked at Roxas who carried a sketch book.

Roxas gave a smile and a nod as the three of them entered the half full classroom. The three of them occupied a table in the back of the room and then looked up to see if the teacher had something to say.

"Ah!" a woman with long, dark brownish hair said as she saw Roxas by Axel and Naminé, "You're Roxas Strife, right?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Uh... yeah," Roxas said, unsure about how to respond to the teacher who made her way up to them, "Then you have to give Cloud my best, he was a total failure in art but a good student none the less, I am Tifa Lockheart," she said with a smile on her face before changing to a frown.

"And ah... I want to see what you are made of... I really hope that you're better than Cloud..." she trailed of with a thoughtful face expression, "Well, today's assignment will be for you to pair up and draw the other person as detailed as possible within the hour, okay?" she then said loudly and everyone gave their approval, even though some annoyed sighs were heard.

"Oooh, Rooxaaaasss?" Axel said with a grin on his face as he opened his sketchbook, "Mind if we draw each other?" he then asked with a wink. Truth to be told the redhead really needed a reason to look at Roxas without seeming to be all obsessed.

Roxas blinked as he looked up at the grinning redhead, same thought flowing through his own head. No one could tell him that he was staring since he would have to look at him, and that was a pretty good chance to check him out.

"Eh, sure," Roxas said with a small smile after a while.

"And remember, you don't have to draw them as they are now, use your imagination but keep to the details of the person!" Tifa said and everyone nodded.

Roxas felt how a smile tugged at his lips for a short while before a look of concentration adorned his face and he looked up at Axel for a few moments every now and then. Truth be told, the picture of Axel he was drawing was burnt into his mind and he would probably not forget it for a very long time. But he didn't mind being able to throw a few extra glances at Axel, he was really good looking. Roxas had to mentally slap himself so he wouldn't keep staring at Axel instead of drawing.

* * *

"Well then kids, put your pencils down," Tifa said after an hour had passed and Roxas contently put the pencil down. He had simply done some corrections and inked the picture. And he had to say he was very pleased with himself as he smiled a bit.

Axel watched his own picture with a smirk on his face. Oh yeah, he could picture Roxas looking like he did on his own picture... It was something he really wanted to see. And well, he had seen it as well.

Tifa walked around in the classroom and looked at everyone's pictures. Then finally she came to a halt by Roxas and looked at his picture. Her eyes widened.

"God... I can't believe you're related to Cloud..." she said as she looked at the picture of the redhead.

The picture Roxas had drawn was a memory from the first time he had seen Axel up close, the day he had fallen down the tree to be exact. Axel had widened eyes in the picture and was clutching his hair as he made a slight grimace. It was right before he had burst out that he thought he had mentally killed Roxas. Tifa then let out a slight giggle.

"Has he actually looked like this?" she asked as she looked at Axel and then the picture.

Axel blinked and tilted his head, "What? What did you draw me like, Roxas?" he then asked as he got up from his chair and got up behind Roxas, "Holy shit..." he then said with mouth open, "Is that..."

"From when I fell down the tree," Roxas cut in and smiled slightly, "The first close-up I got on you, I'll never forget that face expression even thought I don't remember much of the day."

Axel then let out a full blown laugh as he looked at the picture, "Man, I could frame it and put it on a wall! It almost looks like a photo!" he then said and grinned.

"Eh... It isn't that great..." Roxas said and scratched his head, "It's just..."

Tifa chuckled and put her hands on her hips, "I have to agree with Axel, it's great Roxas. I am happy that you don't have Cloud's bad drawing skills," she then said with a grin on her face before she strode off to check some other drawings.

"Well..." Roxas said and sighed, "How did it go?" he then asked and looked at Axel, not sure he wanted to see the picture the redhead had drawn... Not if the mischievous look on his face was any indicator.

"All fine!" he said and turned the drawing to Roxas.

Roxas blushed slightly at seeing the drawing, it was really nice. He'd say that Axel was better at drawing him, but he was slightly embarrassed by looking at the presented picture. Axel had drawn Roxas with a huge blush on his face with his eyes directed to a table, Demyx sitting beside him with a grin on his face, probably a scene occurring at the lunch table or something like that.

"Well, what do you think?" Axel asked with a grin.

"It's... It's really good," Roxas mumbled as he tried to force the blush on his face to go away, "But you just had to draw me like that, huh?" He then asked, with some forced humour.

"You seem to blush quite a lot kid, so why not?" Axel asked with a wink and then grinned as the blush on Roxas's face got even brighter, "And you shouldn't talk, that picture of me is kind of hilarious," he said with a chuckle, "Gotta admit that I really was panicked."

Roxas sighed as he watched how Naminé got up from a chair a bit further away and as she did he and Axel grabbed their things as well and headed for the door, behind the blonde girl.

"So, what did you draw?" Naminé asked with a smile as she slowed her pace down and looked over Roxas's shoulder to see what he had done, she giggled slightly when she saw the drawing, "That's really good."

"Thanks," Roxas said and smiled weakly as they ended up by their lockers, quickly putting their stuff away since it was lunch time.

Roxas winced at the sound of a loud and happy yell. With dread he turned as he saw a blur coming straight at him for the second time this day. What was it with people and liking to super glomp Roxas? The blonde seemed to have a glomp magnet hidden on him somewhere.

"Demyx, don't!" another yell was heard but it was too late this time, Roxas went down and hit the floor. Again.

"Roooxiiieee!" the blonde teenager squealed, "I missed you! Zexy was being mean to me in our music class so I wanted to find you again cause you're nicer!" he happily said as he grinned down at Roxas who blinked a few times and sighed heavily.

"Dem..." Axel said with wide eyes as he looked at them, and he wasn't the only one who was staring. Most people had stopped doing what they had been doing just to take a look at what happened.

Zexion hissed and turned around, "Take a god damned picture, it lasts longer," he said sharply with a slight hiss in his voice which made most people stop staring and get moving. It seemed people had great respect for Zexion for some reason.

"Ow," Roxas said as he opened his eyes and looked to Demyx, "I told you to not call me that..." he then stated weakly.

"Aaaw, why?"

"Demyx, this is the second time today that you tackled him to the ground," Zexion muttered as he once more pulled his boyfriend away from Roxas, "And he's still not fully recovered, and at this pace he's going to get **worse**."

Axel chuckled slightly as he helped Roxas up from the floor, "Hey, you okay?" he asked softly as Roxas nodded and rubbed his head. The redhead then sighed and looked at his other blonde friend who was being held back by Zexion, a pout on his face.

"For Roxas's own safety there should be distance between him and Demyx," Zexion stated as he glared down at Demyx, "This was exactly what happened this morning," he then said as he threw a look at Axel.

"Bu-but! How can I not glomp him?! He's adorable!" Demyx exclaimed as he looked from Zexion to Axel and then to Roxas who immediately got a blush upon his face once more, "Just look at him!"

Zexion groaned at the wriggling blonde he held as he shook his head and started dragging him off to the cafeteria leaving Axel, Roxas and Naminé behind.

Naminé let out a soft giggle at Roxas embarrassed face expression, and then she turned to them, "I am sorry but I have to talk about some things with Tifa, I'll see you when school's over," she then politely said and disappeared after Axel gave a wave.

"So, what do you say about getting something to eat, huh?" Axel asked with a smirk on his face as he looked at Roxas.

"Uh... Sure," Roxas said and once more forced his blush to go down; he hated to be so easily flustered. With that both he and the redhead headed after Demyx and Zexion into the cafeteria.

Axel got himself a big hamburger and fries along with a coke. Roxas on the other hand, went with once more getting two sandwiches and a plain bottle of water instead of a juice. Seeing Axel's meal, Roxas wondered how Axel could be so damn thin, it's not like he was anorexic, when he seemed to eat food like that everyday at school. Not that he had known the redhead for more than three or four days but well... From what Roxas had seen he could guess that he ate a lot of that kind of food.

"Hey, Axel, Roxas!" the happy voice of Zack said as Axel and Roxas sat down on the opposite side from Zexion, Demyx and Zack. Just so Roxas wouldn't get more harmed by the other blonde.

"Hey, how's it going?" Axel asked with a grin as he sat in his place.

"It's just great," Zack said and chuckled, "I got the best laugh of my life today," he said and grinned at Roxas, "I'm sorry if your brother will be traumatized later," he then added with a chuckle as he took a sip of his soda, apparently having already eaten.

Roxas blinked a few times before he looked up at Zack, "Don't tell me you..."

"I totally glomped him from behind!" Zack cheerfully said, "Cloud screamed like a girl!" he then added with a goofy grin on his face.

Roxas let out a soft chuckle before he burst out laughing along with Zack. Axel just smiled and looked at Roxas. That was a really nice sound to hear... _Oh no, are you gonna go all horny over blondie again, huh? _Axel rolled his eyes and shut the inner voice out.

"Thank God he isn't coming home today," Roxas then said after a while and shook his head, "He'd kill me."

"Huh?" Axel then said with tilted head.

"I warned him this morning. Said that he should watch his back," Roxas said with a sheepish smile, "I didn't tell him anything more," he then added and scratched his head as he finished off his first sandwich. He was hungry and the food was eaten quickly.

Demyx laughed at this and then grinned, "You're screwed if he finds out."

"I know," Roxas said and gave a weak laugh before he started on his second sandwich.

The rest of lunch Roxas didn't talk so much, eating his sandwich slowly and listening to the others talking, sure he didn't get everything they talked about since they seemed to have been friends like forever, and he had just gotten into their gang or something like that. It just felt a bit weird to be so nicely treated just like that by people who were mere strangers.

Roxas sighed as he folded his arms and looked out of the window. The sky was getting a bit grey and he could practically smell that it was going to rain later, great; it rains the one day when Cloud wasn't going to be able to pick him up from school.

All of a sudden, Roxas's thoughts were interrupted by a hand holding a packet of fries in front of his eyes, making Roxas look to his right in confusion. He met the smirking face of Axel.

"Huh?" Roxas let out in surprise at the fries in front of him.

"You can't possibly get full on those sandwiches you just ate," he simply said with a smirk on his face, "Take em," he said with a slight nod.

Roxas blinked once more; sure he was still a bit hungry but not enough to complain about it, "Uh, I don't want to take your food..." he said, "Thanks but-"

"Aw come on, I got full on the hamburger, I don't want to waste the fries," he cooed and grinned widely after it. Roxas couldn't say no to that statement, who wanted to waste food?

Roxas sighed but took the fries and then smiled, "Thanks," he said and started eating. Oh... That's... That tasted really good. It was ages since Roxas last ate fries. He couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten them.

"Heeey, why do I never get to eat the food you leave?" Demyx whined with a pout on his face.

"Cause you aren't cute enough," Axel said bluntly which almost made Roxas choke on a fry he had in his mouth, but Axel prevented it by slapping his back. Which caused Roxas to cough even more and then down some water.

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that," he said weakly after his coughing fit. Never had he been called cute or adorable so many times in just one day. This of course caused Axel to laugh and ruffle the blonde's hair affectionately. How did it come that Roxas had ended up with a bunch of weirdoes? Oh yeah that's right, he was also a weirdo.

It would indeed be an interesting school year.

* * *

"See you!" Axel yelled as he waved to Roxas who headed towards the entrance of school to get going on his way home.

"BYE ROXIE!" Demyx yelled as Roxas walked out.

Roxas sighed deeply as he stepped out into the cold rain. Oh joy, how he loved the weather… Or not. He just muttered under his breath as he pulled the hoodie on and then pulled the hood over his head and with quick steps hurried to make his way home before he'd catch a cold, leaving the other teens behind in school.

"So Axel..." Demyx said with a grin as the two friends headed down a corridor, "Did you know that Roxas swings our way?" he innocently asked.

Axel immediately turned to look at Demyx with wide eyes, "How the hell did you get to know that? Is it true? When, where, how?"

Demyx chuckled, "I told him to not freak out over me and Zexy this morning, and he said that he didn't give a shit if we'd make out. Then I asked which way he swung and he said he was halfway out of the closet but always had been more interested in boys," he ended with a wide grin on his face.

This made the smile currently on Axel's face break out into a full fledged grin. _Hell yeah, this is my lucky day!_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** Mwehe, Axel is now confident in making Roxas his X3  
Well, I don't know what to think about this chapter, I think it's okay, not great but it's absolutely not bad.

What do you think? **Please review! :D**

**Zexion: **...I'm not supposed to beg for reviews, am I?

-sigh- Okay, okay. Bad idea to bring you of all people into the Author Note, I should have known it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N: **Heh, I almost waited a whole week before updating, I think that was very impressing... I have such a hard time to not update XD Next update will probably take longer. There's more info in the **A/N** at the end of the chappie!  
Read and review to make me happy! :D

**Thanks to: ****Ally Montgomery**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **The Infamous Me**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **Ania24**, **Suna's Assassin**, **tiffy jeevas**, **freakenout**, **HarrylovesDraco** and **h0n3ybun**. Much love to all of you for reviewing!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + sidepairings: Zemyx/Dexion, ZackCloud(?) and perhaps RiSo), swearing, future lemons, future violence.

**Disclaimer:** Is there any AkuRoku in KH? No, so apparently I do not own it. Square Enix and Disney does.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The weekend had been passing slowly for Roxas. At first, when he had gotten home from school he had been greeted by an empty house and a small letter from Cloud saying that he'd have to go to Kalm as he had told Roxas earlier that morning. And he had left a small remark about Zack, saying that Roxas would pay if he had had anything to do with it. At this Roxas really hoped Zack would keep his mouth shut, Roxas was too young to be killed yet.

Unfortunately Cloud hadn't done any lunch boxes for Roxas. And Roxas being lazy had ended up eating toast and cereal for dinner when he got home from school, not the healthiest dinner really but it had been better than nothing, right? And after that he had practically moved his stuff into the living room and occupied himself in the couch. Saturday looked pretty much the same as Friday except he didn't have any school. Once more he had been living on bread and cereal. The day had been spent listening to music and thinking. Deep thinking. Thinking until late at night. Why did his head enjoy keeping him awake, making him search answers for things he knew he wouldn't get to know? This of course made the blonde sleep long the next day.

But since when was Roxas lucky when it came to his sleeping? Usually it was Cloud waking him up. But this time there was an annoying buzzing sound that sent Roxas stirring up from his sleep.

"Nnh..." he let out as he turned in the couch and rubbed his eyes. What in hell was that sound? It kept buzzing and some other noise... Like... Knocking. Why was someone knocking?

Roxas blinked as he pulled a hand through his messed up hair and looked around, "Wait a moment..." he then muttered as he pushed himself up from the couch and then headed for the door. His mind was playing him tricks or someone was at his house... Why would someone visit him like this?

With a sigh Roxas unlocked the door and opened up. Which he later came to regret a little bit...

"Finally!" a squeal was heard, "Did you... Ooooh!"

Roxas groaned as he shut his eyes. Outside, on his porch, stood no others than Demyx and Axel. This was just great. His sleep was interrupted by two idiots. Or something like that. He could stand Axel, but Demyx was just a little bit too much joy for him sometimes. Especially since Roxas's wasn't much of a morning person.

"Aaah, not gotten out from your pj's yet?" Axel asked with a grin as he strode in and Demyx followed him, both walking straight past Roxas who just stood there with a dumb and pretty blank face expression before closing the door behind his intruders. _'Of course you two can come in, how nice of you to actually ask,' _he thought and forced himself to not snap at them for intruding.

He slowly turned around to look at them, seeing that they had made themselves comfortable in Roxas's smaller couch, the one which wasn't occupied by all his stuff. Axel smirked as he looked at the blonde, "Talk about blank with a capital B," he teasingly said, which made Roxas snap out from his blank state of mind.

"What in hell are you doing in my house this fucking early?" Roxas then asked with an odd amount of calmness in his voice, but his glare could probably have killed someone at the moment.

"Early? Roxas, I don't know what you think is early but you can't mean that 2 pm is early!" Axel exclaimed and then laughed at the face expression that fell upon Roxas's face as soon as he had told him this, "Uh... You really just got up from sleeping, didn't you?" he then asked with a raised eyebrow as Roxas slumped down where he had been sleeping just minutes earlier.

"Yeah," he muttered as he forced his eyes to not shut, "What are you doing here?" he then asked as forced himself to not say something mean. Roxas wasn't particularly nice in mornings... Or well, he wasn't so nice when he just had woken up, since it actually wasn't morning.

"Ah, we were just wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out for a bit," Demyx said with a grin on his face, "We planned to go eat and something more," he then added with a smaller smile on his face.

"Yeah, you can't just sit here and do nothing," Axel said with a chuckle.

"Watch me," Roxas muttered and sighed as he rubbed his eyes again. And then blinked as he heard Axel chuckle, he looked up in confusion to see what in hell he was laughing at.

"You look like a raccoon," he then stated with a grin on his face.

That statement made Roxas pretty much jump up from the couch and storm into the bathroom where he immediately saw that Axel's statement was right. His eyeliner was smudged out around his eyes. He hadn't cared to do anything with it back since Friday, apparently he hadn't taken his time to look into the mirror, it was a wonder it had gone by unnoticed by Roxas. Ugh... great.

With a deep sigh Roxas started to remove the smudged make-up from his eyes and just some minutes later Roxas looked into his now clean face. Deciding that he didn't feel like putting on new eyeliner he simply grabbed a pair of pants which were lying folded on the wash machine, along with a black hoodie. Then he walked out into the living room again.

"Aw, no eyeliner today?" Axel asked with a fake pout on his face as Roxas re-entered the room, now properly dressed, "Doesn't matter, you're cute without it as well," he then added with a wink, making Roxas mutter under his breath as he sat down. The blonde was even to tired to realize that he should have been blushing at Axel's statement.

"So what do you say?!" Demyx asked, "Wanna join us? Pleaaasseee?" he then asked with puppy dog eyes.

Roxas sighed, "Sure... But just because I am damn hungry right now," he simply said and pulled a hand through his messy hair, to somewhat organize it. This was of course in vain, it was always in vain.

Demyx squealed once more and jumped out of the couch, grabbing Axel in the process and then running up to Roxas who immediately got a look of dread upon his face, he had a little problem when it came to physical contact. But he didn't have to worry because Axel was faster than Demyx so he took a grab on the boy's shirt before he had time to throw himself on Roxas.

"I am sorry, he is like a big puppy," Axel tiredly said as he looked at Demyx who pouted, "And no, that face don't work on me you sneaky little bastard," he added with a smirk on his face before turning to Roxas who also smirked.

"Is he always like this?" he asked as he looked at Demyx who still tried to give Axel the puppy dog eyes, not getting any effect at all.

"Uh, yeah," Axel said with a shrug, "You'll get used to it, and don't let his 'kicked puppy' look get to you. He always got me with it years ago," Axel explained as he yanked at Demyx as he then gave a nod for the door, "Well, ready to go?" he asked Roxas who got up from the couch with a slight sigh.

"Yeah, I am ready," Roxas replied as he headed up to the door and pulled his shoes on before grabbing the keys from a drawer in the hall and then he looked at Axel who walked up to him, Demyx in a headlock under his arm and a grin on his face.

They simply went out of the house and Roxas locked after himself before heading after Axel to the car where the red head opened the back door and grinned, "Put on the seatbelt,." Axel said (as the first time) and then closed the door before jumping into the drivers seat while Demyx took the passenger's seat.

"Hey, you never tell me to put on the seatbelt!" Demyx whined as he sat down, but put on his seat belt none the less.

Axel shrugged with a grin on his face, "Maybe your life isn't so high up on my priority list, huh?" he then suggested which sent Demyx pouting once more.

Roxas couldn't help smiling a bit as the car started and they drove away on the road, on a way Roxas had no idea where it headed, he hadn't had a chance to check out the town especially much, he had been home most time. After a few minutes Axel started to speed up his driving as he and Demyx chatted about various things. Roxas on the other hand stared straight ahead, fingers grasping at the seat. He _hated_ and _loathed_ fast driving. That was one of the reasons he hated driving with Cloud on Fenrir as well.

Soon they stopped by a small house and Axel honked, not many seconds later a grumpy looking Zexion stepped out from the house and walked up to the car and jumped in beside Roxas and just gave a nod in greeting. Roxas did the same as Axel just grinned and sped away.

"Aw, why can't I sit with Roxas and Zexy?" Demyx whined as Axel drove away on a small road, still driving unnecessarily fast.

"Cause you'll just damage Roxas and annoy Zexion," Axel stated with a nod as he then looked back and flashed the two 'supposed to be emos' a grin, "Isn't that right?"

"AXEL!" Demyx then yelled at the same time as loud honking was heard which made Axel look forward to in the last second realize he was on the wrong side of the road and was damn close to crash into another car, but Axel managed to take control over his car and get on the right side of the road before there was a collision, "Whoa..." Demyx said and then grinned sheepishly.

Roxas felt how all blood drained from his face and he felt a bit sick. They had been so damn close to collide with that car. They could possibly have died. God that was awful.

"Just keep your eyes on the fucking road, please Axel," Zexion said with strained voice, like this wasn't the first time Axel had been a bit careless in traffic, "And spare us from an early death."

Axel snorted as he made a right turn and not much later they stopped outside a pizza place, "Then we're here!" he happily said as he jumped out of the car, not affected by his little mistake at all.

Both Axel and Demyx quickly left the car in over joy, Roxas took his good time to get out from the car, still in slight chock. He was thankful that this happened before the food, otherwise he was pretty sure he would have had to throw up.

"You all right?" Zexion then asked as they both headed against the doors, where Demyx and Axel already had disappeared through.

Roxas gave a slight nod, "Yeah..." he lied and Zexion raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as they headed inside. Roxas appreciated the silence.

* * *

"Hey, are you fine?" Demyx asked with tilted head, "You've been kind of pale since we got into the car," he then said with a worried look on his face.

Axel scratched his head, "Sorry about that thing in the car, didn't mean to freak you out."

"He was pale even before that!" Demyx said with a slight glare directed at the oblivious redhead before he looked at Roxas again, "Are you sick? Do you have a fever? The flue?"

Roxas groaned as Demyx touched, poked and looked all over him for signs of any sickness. The blonde was for sure a handful and he hoped Axel was right when he had said that you get used to it eventually.

"What?" Demyx said with tilted head as he looked at Roxas with worry.

"I'm not sick," Roxas muttered as he looked out through the window, "I just... I don't like cars," he then said and felt how his stomach made a flip, see, it couldn't even stand the word car. It was like some allergy to him. Car. _Flip._ Caaaaar. _Flip-flip. _CAR! _FLIP!_

Axel blinked a few times and tilted his head. He didn't like cars? How did that come? He hadn't minded the ride when Axel had taken him home from school, "You don't like cars? Why?" he then asked with in slight confusion.

"... I don't really like to talk about this so please don't ask anything about it," Roxas said pleadingly with his eyes fixed on a wall on the other side of the room, "I'll tell more of it when I feel like doing so," he added after a while and took a deep breath.

"... Sure, go on," Zexion said with a nod as he looked at Roxas.

"About one and a half year ago I was in a car accident," Roxas mumbled, "I don't remember much but my father must have driven really fast and we... He lost control of the car and we crashed into another car and then into a wall. My parents died instantly and they say it's a miracle that I survived," Roxas said all this in a pretty quiet voice as he kept staring ahead. There was no point in lying, it wouldn't take too long time for the others to notice that he was living alone with only his brother and no parents.

Axel opened his mouth and immediately felt stupid. Driving like a maniac like he had done earlier had probably brought some really bad memories up for the blonde. And especially when he had gotten onto the wrong side of the road, "Shit, I am sorry," he said after a while and really sounded sorry about it. Now Axel felt like a jerk, by driving as fast as he had done. Roxas simply shrugged.

"It's okay. You didn't know anything about it," Roxas said with a slight sigh, "And since I am living with Cloud it would obviously get you suspicious about my parents," he then added as he with another sigh took a bite of a pizza slice.

"So, subject change please," Roxas then said as he threw a glance at Axel who still looked like he felt really guilty, "Please don't make me hit you for making that face..." Roxas said with a frown on his own face.

Axel then grinned sheepishly as he scratched his head, "Sorry Roxas, we've kind of ruined your day, right?" he then asked.

Roxas snorted as he sipped at his coke, "Nah. If you hadn't woken me up I would still be sleeping by now," he said and shrugged, "But next time you decide to come to my house I'd appreciate if you do not just stride in, it's pretty rude if you ask me about it," he said with a glare directed at Axel and then Demyx.

Zexion raised an eyebrow, "They let themselves in?" he asked.

"Yeah, walked right past me and made themselves at home in my couch," Roxas stated with another glare at Axel.

"That's why I never take of the safety chain before looking who's coming, that's my advice to you," Zexion then said and sighed as he nudged his boyfriend.

"Thanks, I'll make sure to do that next time someone knocks on my door," Roxas said with a nod and a smirk on his face.

"Hey, and you're supposed to be my boyfriend!" Demyx said with a gasp as he looked at Zexion, "I have a right to get into your home without permission!" he then said with crossed arms.

Zexion simply rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"And no one got the right to storm my house," Roxas said as he munched on another slice of pizza, "Cause from what I know I am not together with either one of you," he then added with a shrug.

Axel smirked widely, "You know that could be easily changed," he said and leaned onto Roxas with a seductive smirk on his face which made Roxas yelp and lean away from the redhead.

"I don't think so..." he said with a slight troubled look on his face as Axel lifted his head with a pout on his face.

"You got something against bi or gay people?" he then asked with a surprisingly serious face expression even though he knew that Roxas had nothing against it from what Demyx said, he just wanted to hear it by Roxas himself.

Roxas blinked and looked at Axel with bewilderment in his eyes, "Of course not! Why would I when I am ga-... Oh," he cut himself of when he realized what he had said and he immediately got a blush on his face. At this Demyx started laughing at Roxas looking so embarrassed.

"Hey, don't you be ashamed, join the gay club!" Demyx said cheerfully, "It's actually funny how it ended up with like everyone being gay. And thanks to that everyone kind of thinks that we're having mass orgies together," he said and chuckled as he snaked an arm around Zexion's shoulder and grinned widely.

Roxas let out a slight chuckle despite his embarrassment.

"Everyone finished?" Axel then asked and gained nods from everyone around the table, "Great! Someone wanna head to the movies?!" he then asked with a wide grin on his face, "It's on me! I got moooovie coupoons!" he cooed as he flashed the coupons.

"So this was why you were so god damn intent on going out and getting all of us out today," Zexion said with a sigh as he looked at Demyx and then at Roxas, as if he was searching for some kind of support.

"Yay! Free movie!" Demyx cheered and high-fived Axel, "That's great!"

"Woho! What do you say Roxie?" Axel then asked with that childish grin on his face, it looked like he was a five year old at Christmas.

Roxas grimaced at the nickname Axel used on him. Ugh, he had already complained to Demyx about it and now Axel had to go along and use it as well. Wasn't life great?

"Uh... What movie?" Roxas asked suspiciously.

Axel grinned widely and snaked at arm around Roxas's shoulders, "It's Saw 5!" he said happily which made Zexion actually smirk. Oh how Zexion loved those movies, mental and physical torture was really awesome. Who knew what good ideas you could pick up from those movies?

Roxas blinked and then his eyes widened, "...I think I will decline, thanks but no thanks," he said stiffly since he knew he never had gotten along well with such movies.

"Aw, why not?" he then asked with a smirk on his face, "Is Roxy-poo scared?" he then cooed in Roxas's ear which made Roxas blush madly.

"I don't go along with torture movies," Roxas said with a glare directed at Axel, "And there's one thing about calling me Roxie, I can live with it... But if you call me Roxy-poo again I'll castrate you and you'll find Saw being comical after that," he seriously said with a slight edge to his voice.

Axel's eyed widened as he stared at Roxas. Apparently he had underestimated the short blonde. He did actually fear for his manhood's life. He gulped and then let out a slight laugh, "Now, that wouldn't make anyone happy would it?" he then asked and chuckled nervously, his hands unconsciously ending up in front of his crotch, as if to protect his manly parts from any harm. Roxas glare had been a nasty one.

"I am not sure about that," Roxas replied dryly as he crossed his arms, "Either way, thanks for the offer but still, I don't get along with torture. And if you're so stubborn about me being scared, then no, it's called uncomfort," he then stated with a slight nod. Even though the truth was that he actually was scared.

Axel let a pout slip up on his lips but he sighed in defeat and then put his hands in his pockets and looked at Roxas, "I'll let you go if you come with us another time?" he then asked with a hopeful face expression.

"Yeah, sure," Roxas agreed and shrugged, "Just no torture movies, please."

"Not a single one!" Axel said with a wide grin on his face, "Do you want a ride back home, Roxie?" he then asked with a smile on his face.

Roxas smiled slightly and gave a nod, "If that's all right," he said softly.

Axel laughed as he stood up, "Of course, I and Dem got you out here so we aren't going to leave you. You wouldn't find your way back either way, right?" he asked with a smirk on his face as he saw how Roxas pouted slightly. _God... And I have been thinking that Demyx was adorable when he's pouting. That's just TOO cute! _Inner Axel was squealing in joy at seeing this.

"I and Zex can wait here," Demyx said with a small smile as he winked at Axel and Roxas, he could get some alone time with his boyfriend like this, "You have to go by here to get to the cinema either way, " he added as Roxas stood up and went up to Axel who had gotten up from his chair earlier.

"OK, I'll be back pretty soon," Axel said with a shrug before sending a slight glare at Demyx, "And if you even think about leaving this place without telling me, I'll rip your heads of."

Demyx laughed and shook his head, "We aren't going anywhere, right Zexy?" he then asked innocently as he looked at his boyfriend.

"Sure, Demyx, sure," Zexion tiredly agreed with a nod before looking at Axel and Roxas and giving them a slight wave, "See you in school, Roxas," he said before said blonde and redhead walked out of the place.

Axel sighed as he unlocked the car and watched how Roxas walked around to jump into the passenger's seat. As he sat down in his seat he threw a look at Roxas who looked a little bit pale again. This time he'd make sure to not do anything reckless when driving. He hadn't had a single idea about Roxas's parents dying in a car accident.

"And there we go..." he mumbled as he started the engine and drove out on the road again. This time keeping his eyes on the road and actually drove at a normal speed, "So... Sorry about my careless driving earlier," Axel said with a half smile on his lips.

Roxas tilted his head and looked at Axel who didn't drive nearly as fast by now, "It's... It's okay, no harm done, right?" he said with a smile on his own face as he looked at Axel who stayed focused on the road.

Axel sighed in relief, "Yeah that's right, but I guess I should try to be more careful," he said with a slight laugh as he shook his head, "Zexy have been complaining at me before."

Roxas snorted and rolled his eyes, "With your little display on the road I'm not surprised," he stated dryly as he glanced at the redhead.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Axel said with a sigh, "Sorry bout your parents, I guess anyone wouldn't like the thoughts of cars after something like that..." he said in a murmur.

Roxas bit his lip as he listened to Axel. He had a really hard time talking about his parents. It always felt like people tried to sympathise with him just because there was something that you were supposed to do. But Roxas didn't like people who did that for the sake of themselves. To feel better, to make them believe they were better people than they actually were. But for some reason Axel sounded genuinely sorry.

"I told you it's fine, you didn't know," Roxas said softly either way, "And I am probably overreacting a bit as well."

Axel glanced at the blonde who was looking out with a slight distant face expression on his face, "Nah, I don't think so, losing parents isn't a nice story," he said with seriousness evident in his voice, "Mine are dead, might as well tell you that," he then said with a shrug.

"Oh... I'm sorry," Roxas said softly as he gazed at Axel who just let out a faint sigh.

"It's all right, I have gotten over it, not as fresh as for you," he said with a sad smile, looking away from the road to look at Roxas for a short while, "But as you I got a brother I'm living with, and friends. That's all I need," he then said, sounding a lot more cheerful.

"That's good..." Roxas murmured as he smiled back at Axel who then looked back at the road.

"What about you, huh? Left any friends behind in Hollow Bastion?" Axel then asked.

"I don't know... I'm not sure I can call them friends any longer," Roxas said after a while of thinking, "So much happened and in the end... I guess they chose to believe some stupid rumours instead of listening to me."

"That doesn't sound friendly in my ears," Axel said with a frown on his face, "Well, I haven't known you for many days but I must say that I like you, thought there was something special with you when you and Sora almost crashed into me," he said softly as he took a right turn.

This made a faint blush work its way up on Roxas face, no one had ever been able to make Roxas blush so much in so few days. And he wasn't usually this easily flustered or embarrassed. It just seemed that Axel had that effect on him.

"Thanks, I guess," Roxas mumbled as he looked down at his lap before looking up at Axel, "You're nice, thanks for treating me like this even though you don't really know me," he then said, and he was really thankful for befriending Axel and his friends. Even though it hadn't been the best way to make friends it had ended up good.

Axel grinned widely at this, "No reason to thank me! Usually I don't care much about people that just show up," he then said and smiled slightly, "But I don't know... I am not freaking you out, huh?" he then asked with a chuckle since Roxas was silent and still blushing.

"N-no!" Roxas stuttered out with a bewildered look on his face, "I... I am just not used to talk much, really..."

Axel let out another soft chuckle as he drove up on the driveway by Roxas's house and then stopped the car and turned to look at Roxas who still had the most adorable blush covering his cheeks.

'No. I can't kiss him, even though he looks completely adorable. I've just known him for a few days and I already feel like I want to kiss him, am I going crazy?' Axel thought as he eyed Roxas who shyly was looking up, meeting emerald green, who in turn met sapphire blue.

"Well Roxie, guess you're home," Axel said with a slightly strained smile on his lips, still having a rather strong urge to do something sudden, like kissing the smaller boy. But that would for sure just freak Roxas out.

"Yeah," Roxas said as he got the seatbelt of and then bit his lip before he looked into Axel's intense eyes once more, "Thanks, it was nice going out. See you in school tomorrow?" he then asked with tilted head.

Axel groaned at the thought of school but gave a nod at least, "Yeah... School..." he muttered under his breath, "I could pick you up if you want to?" he then asked with a slight look of hope on his face, like he actually wanted to.

"Uh... Just if you feel like it..." Roxas said and smiled slightly, "I have no problems walking there otherwise, I think I know how to get to school now."

Axel grinned widely, "See you tomorrow, be out at 8!" with that he extended his hand and Roxas blinked but shook it before he opened the car door. He frowned when he felt that Axel had slipped something into his hand.

He threw a look into the car and Axel just smirked and winked before starting the engine again, "Bye," Roxas said with a suspicious look before closing the car door and waving to Axel, then he turned around and walked up to his house again, he unlocked the door and got inside.

Once he had entered he opened his hand to see a tissue with something scribbled down.

_0737-202830, gimme a call or message me, so I can get your number Roxie ;)  
__Axel_

Roxas couldn't help letting out a slight giggle as he looked at the messy handwriting, he had no idea when the redhead had had time to write that without him noticing it at all. And why did Roxas feel the sudden urge to squeal like a school girl? He couldn't have a crush on Axel, right?

Roxas sighed with a smile on his face and wandered out into the living room where he sat down in the couch he had been sleeping in earlier and got up his phone, he entered Axel's name into his phone book. Funny, now Roxas had five numbers programmed to his phone. There was Axel, Cloud and three numbers to three old friends who he didn't really have contact with any longer.

Roxas smiled and shook his head as he started typing a message.

_**You could just have asked for my number if you wanted it, you know? And damn you if this isn't your number, Axel.  
**__**Sincerely, Roxas, NOT Roxie.**_

Roxas smirked slightly as he sent the message to the number Axel had written down on the tissue. He could always hope that the nickname thing would get better. Not that he had really cared about Axel calling him Roxie several times.

With that Roxas put his phone down on the table and then lied down and stared into the ceiling for a while. It didn't take particularly long time before his phone started vibrating. Roxas smiled as he grabbed the phone and looked at the display.

**1 new message(s).**

**From: Axel**

_**Aaw, but Roxie suits you! And I didn't really get a good chance to ask about it. And why would I give you wrong number? I would never want to share your number with anyone else. So face it, I own you now! :D**_

Roxas rolled his eyes as he read the message. Well, it had been worth a try, right? It seemed Roxas would have to get used to be called Roxie even though it annoyed him slightly. The only other nickname he had was Rox, and it was almost only Cloud who called him that.

_**Roxie sounds like a girls name. And last time I checked, I wasn't a girl. Thank you very much for your observation. Are you hitting on me, or what? And I'm sorry, but you aren't the only one who have my number. Learn to share.**_

With that Roxas sent his second message to Axel and then pushed himself up from the couch and headed up to his room for a while. He had to make sure to do some of the homework he had gotten. Like the history homework Leon had given them. Thank God that Roxas had some interest in the subject or he would have fallen asleep by simply reading the darn thing. Math used to have that effect on Roxas.

About one hour later Roxas shut the history book and yawned as he stretched out and then dropped his pencil and pushed himself up from his desk, that had been pretty tiring but easy none the less. He deserved something to eat, even though it wasn't long ago since he ate with Axel and company. He had to compensate for his lost breakfast either way, nothing wrong with thinking that way, right?

Once he got downstairs he sat down in the couch first of all and flipped his phone open. He blinked as he looked at the display.

**3 new message(s).**

**From: Axel (3)**

What the? Roxas frowned as he opened the first message.

_**Well, I didn't really mean that you look like a girl, but you're cute and Roxie sounds cute so there, you can't argue with me cause you know I'll totally own you! What if I am? ;)  
**__**Aw, and here I thought that I maybe was special, my poor heart is shattering into millions of pieces...**_

Roxas blushed as he read the first part. Axel thought he was cute? He didn't really know whether to be annoyed or happy. Was it offending his masculinity or praising him? Well, he settled with just feeling a bit embarrassed. And why in hell did Axel have to be such a tease?!

Roxas sighed as he opened the second message, being prepared for the worst.

_**Roxie, you alive? You didn't get offended by that I hope, I'm just a very straight forward and honest person, maybe a bit too honest sometimes though. You aren't mad, right?**_

Roxas blinked as he looked at the time the message had been sent. Just 10 minutes after the first message Axel had sent. With a shrug he opened the third message that was recently sent.

_**Shit, you really got mad, didn't you? Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you however I now might have done that, do Roxie wanna forgive Axie? I promise to be nice!**_

Roxas rolled his eyes and shook his head. Seemed Axel was used to always having attention.

_**I'm not mad, I just don't carry my phone everywhere I go. I simply did some homework (remind Demyx, I think he forgot) and left the phone downstairs. Roxie will kick Axie if Axie don't stop calling Roxie Roxie soon. But I guess it's a lost cause to even try to tell you that. And to avoid further misunderstanding from your part, I am gonna make something to eat so don't expect any fast answers, and either way we'll see each other tomorrow, right?**_

With this Roxas pushed himself up from the couch, leaving the phone behind again. He already knew that he would get an answer soon but he could take a look on that after he had eaten. In this pace he'd get back a huge bill for messaging. The only thing he used to use his phone for was calling Cloud, nothing else. And he didn't call his brother often, it was the other way around.

With a sigh Roxas heard the buzzing from his phone but didn't budge. He was having his food and wouldn't let the impatient redhead disturb him in a message frenzy.

Twenty minutes later when Roxas was sitting by the table, eating instant ramen and enjoying his peaceful Sunday afternoon the phone buzzed again. Roxas couldn't help letting out a chuckle as shoved some more noodles into his mouth while shaking his head. He had really gotten a stubborn redhead on his hands. But Roxas didn't mind. Axel was indeed an interesting person.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that was chapter 5! Heh, my picture of Axel when it comes to phone messaging is that he would be the impatient person who is expects people to reply just minutes after he sends his message x3  
And I am not sure how fast I'll update next time. It might take up to two weeks cause much things are happening now. I have a family member who recently got **very** ill and he's in the hospital so I am quite nervous and feel bad about it. And school is kind of making me feel down cause it never lets me get some rest D:  
I hope you understand that.

**Axel: **Please review to cheer our dear authress up! I'll get my Roxie faster if she's happy, damn it!  
**Roxas:** Tch, you're for sure a caring person... -sarcastic-


	6. Chapter 6

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N: **I was supposed to upload this like tomorrow or something like that, since I am not really finished with chapter 8 yet... But since I am going away for the weekend (convention, YAY!) so I figured out that it would be better to do it now, otherwise it might take several more days. And right, ths chapter kind of makes stuff move along pretty past, and I have done a litte time jump to make things a little bit more realistic. But fuck it, it's fanfiction and I control it, GYAHAHA! -goes into hiding-

**Thanks to: Guzophela**,** The Infamous Me**,** Ally Montgomery**, **h0n3ybun**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **freakenout**, **RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn**, **Matineus **and **auPHE**. For reviewing, and thanks for understanding my situation with my sick relative, luckily enough he's better now!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + sidepairings: Zemyx/Dexion, ZackCloud(?) and perhaps RiSo), swearing, future lemons, violence.

**Disclaimer: **I have a feeling that all of you knows this but... Did you know that I do not own KH? That's right! Square Enix and Disney does.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

It had passed about two weeks since Roxas had been waked up and dragged out to eat with Axel, Demyx and Zexion. During these two weeks he had gotten pretty close to all of them, but most of all he stuck to Axel. And of course he couldn't avoid Demyx since they had almost all their classes together. And sure, Zexion was nice but he was the least social of them, but Roxas didn't mind since Roxas himself wasn't much of a talking person.  
Roxas sighed as he opened his locker and shoved his books inside, grabbing his chemistry book as he looked around to see if maybe Demyx had decided to show up. Apparently he had decided to ditch chemistry. Not that Roxas minded really, he was used to be on his own and wouldn't die of being without Demyx in one lesson. Truth to be told it was a lot calmer when the other blonde wasn't around. Of course he didn't dislike Demyx, he just had a way of tiring Roxas to such an extent that he just had to shut himself down sometimes. But he knew Demyx only meant good, he was just a bit too much bubbly for his own good.

"Hey, blondie!" a slightly unfamiliar, but yet familiar, voice suddenly called which made Roxas twitch in irritation, he had never like being called blondie and he guessed it was he who were being addressed since he was alone.

With a slight sigh of annoyance Roxas closed his locker and turned around to face someone he had absolutely no interests in talking to. It was Riku. Sora's best friend. To Roxas it was a mystery how those two could be so great friends.

"My name is Roxas, not blondie," Roxas muttered as he sent a glare at Riku who glared back at Roxas. Oh great, the king of glaring was back, did he want to see if he could burn a hole in Roxas's skull in a close range this time?

Riku rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "I don't care about your name, Strife, but what I care about is that you did something to Sora," he stated with a cold voice.

Roxas frowned as he looked at Riku, "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play stupid," Riku hissed as he took a step closer, making Roxas step back in a reflex, the slightly taller teen smirked for a short while before looking serious once more, "I know that you and Sora were talking some weeks ago, you said something to him."

Aha. So that was what it was about. Riku was pissed at Roxas cause Sora had been... acting kinda strange since their talk, or what? Roxas sighed inwardly as he looked at the silver haired teen in front of him.

"We were talking, I didn't say anything to hurt Sora, if that's what you're getting at," Roxas said as he threw a sharp glare back at Riku, "We just talked about something, if you want to know about what why don't you ask him?" he then asked coldly and all of a sudden he found himself pushed up against the lockers, his combination lock was poking into his back, making it very uncomfortable.

Riku growled as he tightened his grip around Roxas's shirt collar, "You are in no damn position to tell me what to do," he hissed lowly, "You're nothing more than trash, did you know that?" he then asked coldly and let out a cold chuckle, "Trash."

"I'm not trash!" Roxas hissed back and with determination shoved Riku away from him, "I don't know what your fucking problem with me is, but let it go!"

Riku's eyes widened in mild surprise at Roxas pushing him away like that, no one had dared to speak or act this way towards him before. With anger pulsating through his body Riku clenched his fists and then growled as he once more strode up to Roxas, this time slamming the boy hardly into the lockers, making Roxas hit his head. And after that Riku delivered a right straight to Roxas's face. Making his lip split.

"Shit!" Roxas let out as he felt how the old wound at the back of his head stung slightly, it actually hurt more than the lip was hurting. He opened his eyes just to see Riku's fist coming straight against his face. Roxas shut his eyes tightly and awaited the upcoming pain... But it didn't come any pain. Why was there no pain?

An angry shout was heard and all of a sudden Roxas was dropped to the floor. He opened his eyes in confusion and saw that Riku was lying a few feet away from him on the floor. With a bloody nose and a split lip. Roxas looked up to see Axel in the background with such a look of rage on his face that it almost scared Roxas. He was like a raging fire, once he got realy angry he would get out of control and it wouldn't be simple to stop him.

"If you ever touch him again I'll make sure that that pretty face of yours will need a complete remodelling," Axel said with venom dripping from his voice, he crouched down and grabbed Riku by his hair, earning a sharp hiss from said boy, "Got it memorized?" he then ended icily and Riku just stubbornly glared up at Axel who yanked at Riku's hair, "**Got it memorized?**" he asked once more, this time with a sharper edge to his voice.

Roxas just stared blankly at the little scene in front of him. Those weeks ago when Axel had told him that he wanted to kill Riku... He never thought that Axel might have really meant it. But then as well... Riku seemed to be a real bastard.

"What makes you think I'll listen to scum like you? You can take your piece of trash and go and fucking ki-," Riku didn't have time to finish this sentence before Axel had punched his face again, this time he was growling dangerously and pulled Riku up to his feet, lifting Riku up by his collar and glared straight into his eyes.

"You're going to regret ever saying those things," he said surprisingly calmly as he looked into Riku's eyes with such coldness that even Roxas thought he could feel it get a bit colder in the room.

Roxas knew that he should do something before the fight would take a nasty turn. But why couldn't he do anything more than just stare at them? It was like he was stuck to the ground just watching everything happen, his legs wouldn't move.

"Axel!"

Roxas hadn't been so happy for days to hear Demyx's voice, he turned his head to look at Demyx who came running their way, Zack was even running past him and before Axel could hit Riku again Zack had grabbed Axel from behind, making the redhead hiss as he was torn away from his prey.

"Lemme go! He was hurting Roxas, the bastard deserves a good beating!" Axel growled as he squirmed in Zack's grip.

At hearing this Demyx immediately turned his attention to Roxas who still sat at the floor, rubbing the back of his head. And it even seemed his old wound had re-opened, judging by the slight wetness he could beel when he brushed his fingers over the spot on the back of his head. He let out a slight groan and shook his head before wiping away the blood from his split lip. What a wonderful life.

"You okay?" Demyx asked as he knelt down, throwing a short glance at Axel who was beginning to calm down. Riku seemed to already have taken his time to run for it.

"RUN YOU FUCKING COWARD! Run and cry to mommy and daddy!" Axel yelled after him when Zack had released him from a death grip.

"Y-yeah," Roxas ansered the question with a nod as Demyx raised an eyebrow in doubt, "What?" Roxas said in a mutter as he frowned.

Demyx sighed and shook his head, "You're bleeding," he stated.

At this Axel practically threw himself down to the floor, just a few inches away from Roxas's face.

"Shit! Are you okay? Is it hurting? What did he do?" Axel rambled up as he gently grabbed Roxas's chin and examined him, "Oh no! Your head wound has opened up again!" he then said with wide eyes which were filled with worry.

Roxas sighed and carefully removed Axel's hand from his face, "I'm fine, a lot better than Riku are doing at least," he said with an attempted smile which ended up in a hiss since he already had forgotten about his split lip, "You... you didn't have to do that, you know," Roxas then added as Axel grabbed his hand and helped him up from the floor.

"Are you kidding me?" Axel asked with wide eyes, "I couldn't just do nothing! And I would have loved to punch him one more time..." he then trailed of with a look of displease on his face.

Zack sighed and shook his head, "I know you wanted to but you're gonna find your ass in jail if you don't think about what you do," he seriously stated, but soon he got a slight smile on his face, "But I guess he deserved it for giving Roxas a little beating."

Axel muttered something under his breath as he kept looking over at Roxas's wounds. With a sigh Axel grabbed the end of his shirt and ripped of a piece of the fabric to then put it against the wound on the back of Roxas's head.

"Sure you're fine?" Axel asked suspiciously.

Roxas nodded, "Just a bit shocked, that's all," he said quietly as he looked up at Axel who still was looking pretty worried, and still a bit pissed of.

"What was it about?"

"He was mad because he thought I had said something to hurt Sora," Roxas said and shrugged with a slight sigh, "And he got really angry when I told him to ask Sora about it instead of me."

"He's fucked up," Axel muttered under his breath as he softly ran his thumb over Roxas's lower lip, where he had split it.

Roxas couldn't help sucking in a breath at the soft touch. Axel was standing so very close to him right now. And the look in his green eyes was really intense... Roxas could almost feel the redhead's breath on his lips. Why did he feel such a strong urge to kiss Axel?

"Would you let me kiss away the pain?" Axel asked in a murmur as he let his thumb slip of the lip, as he leant in even closer to Roxas. He almost looked sad, as if he was expecting to be pushed away from the blonde. For a short while it also looked like he was going to retreat from Roxas, "Never mind..." he murmured with a beat down look on his face and slowly pulled back.

Roxas opened his mouth slightly, "What if I would say yes?" he asked in a faint whisper, at this Axel stopped moving back, they did not even hear or care about Demyx and Zack who were standing in the background, staring at the two of them as if they had gone mad.

A look of surprise crossed Axel's face but it was soon hidden by a small smile on his lips. Yes, a smile, not the usual ever teasing smirk he used to have on his face. Not so much longer after that, Roxas felt Axel's lips brush across his own lips. It was a nice sensation and he could feel Axel's fingers twirl in his hair. A couple of seconds later they parted and just looked at each other. Had they just kissed? Oh yes, they had kissed each other!

"Hey," Axel said with a slight smile on is lips, then letting his hand fall from Roxas's face, "Is it still hurting?" he then asked with a hint of playfulness in his voice as he looked into Roxas's eyes.

Roxas gave a slight nod, "I think you have to do it again," he replied and at this Axel grinned and leant in once more, this time not a simple brush by lips, this time he stroke his tongue along Roxas lower lip. Getting a taste of iron in his own mouth. Soon he got the chance to slip his tongue into Roxas's mouth, the blonde didn't really mind. It felt good.

A couple of more seconds passed as they softly kissed each other and then they parted once more.

"That must have done the trick, huh?" he then asked, an arm wrapped around Roxas's waist, the other playing with a golden lock of hair.

Roxas gave a nod and then smiled goofily, "I think it did."

Demyx opened his mouth and stared at them, "The hell...?" he said and just kept staring, "What in..."

Axel turned to Demyx and then the smirk was back on his face, "Don't tell me you've turned homophobic, Dem. I'm sure Zexy would be disappointed if he found out you suddenly turned straight," Axel said, his smirk spreading across his face, still not letting go of Roxas.

"Who's turning straight?"

"Ah, Zexion!" Zack happily said and grinned, "Well, those two are definitely not turning straight at least!" he happily said and pointed at Axel and Roxas, said blonde had a faint blush on his face.

"What?" Zexion said in surprise, and this was one of the first times Roxas had seen the short teen express something like shock, "Just... sudden..." he said as he blinked and looked at them, still looking majorly surprised.

Axel let out a soft chuckle and licked his lips as he locked eyes with Roxas, "I knew it from when I almost crashed into you about a month ago," he murmured as he leant in, his nose touching Roxas's, "Know what I mean?" he then asked softly.

Roxas just have a slight nod, "Yeah..."

It was true, just the very short moment where emerald green and sapphire blue had connected in the corridor, it had been like a lightning had struck them both. It was like both of them had found something to complete themselves, just they hadn't been sure how to approach the other in the right way. It was true that this had been a very fast development between the two of them, they had barely known each other for a month and yet they knew what they wanted.

"Sweeeet!" Demyx then squealed and all of a sudden pulled Axel and Roxas into a bone crushing hug, "I knew it! You two are made for each other!" he giggled as the other two squirmed.

"F-fuck, let us go!" Axel hissed as he found his face pressed up against Roxas's cheek, his head being locked in place by Demyx. The happy and pretty short teen might not look so strong but hell he could hold someone in place when he wanted to.

"Y-yeah!" Roxas stuttered out as he grimaced, "Can't breath!" he then wheezed out.

At this Demyx blinked and immediately released said two people who proceeded to gasp for air, "Oh! I'm sorry!" he said with a sheepish grin on his face.

"It's... cool..." Roxas said after some minor coughing on is part, then he licked his lips and sighed slightly, looking at Axel who looked back at him, with a smile on his face.

"I'd love to kiss away some more of your pain," he said with a wink which made Roxas blush again, he had been to occupied to kiss Axel back earlier that he hadn't thought about everyone else who were around them. Thankfully the corridor they were in wasn't occupied by any others by this time.

Zack laughed and shook his head as he shoved some stuff into his locker, "And suddenly he realizes what's going on around him!" he cheerfully said and then shut his locker and turned with a smirk on his face, "Well, I know that I am finished for the day but I don't know about you guys..."

"Shit!" Demyx said with wide eyes as he looked at Roxas, "We're late! FOR **VEXEN'S** LESSON!" He pretty much shrieked and grabbed his hair before he pretty much ripped his own locker up at pulled out his chemistry things.

Roxas's eyes widened as he looked at the watch, and yeah, they were about 5 minutes late by now, "Uh-oh..." he let out as he bent down and immediately picked up his stuff, he threw a quick look at Axel and then at Demyx, "Uh..."

"You fine enough to go?" Axel asked with a slight worried look on his face and Roxas nodded.

"It's just some scratches, I'm fine, I'll be even more screwed if I don't go to the class," Roxas said with a faint smile on is face, but he kind of feared Vexen.

Axel sighed but smiled back, "Say, do I get a good bye kiss?" he then asked with a wink which made Roxas blush but he did indeed lean in to give Axel a quick peck before being yanked away by Demyx.

"I'm really sorry but you guys don't have time to be lovey-dovey right now!" he hurriedly said and after that he stormed away, "I PROMISE YOU GET TO MOLEST HIM LATER!" he then called back to Axel, Zexion and Zack who simply stared at the two blonde's who disappeared.

Axel blinked and then pouted, "He took my Roxie..."

Zexion smirked and shook his head in disbelief, "You know what? You two are amazing, I thought you two might hook up but I didn't think it would be this soon. I was aiming for several months," he said and then sighed lightly as he opened his own locker and looked at Axel, "Time for history then, right?"

"Both of us felt it his first day here," Axel said with a goofy smile on his face, not hearing Zexion's comment about history, "I got a boyfriend," he then added and grinned as Zack laughed.

"You're amazing, Ax," he said and chuckled, "But are you sure he isn't... just one of the others?" he then asked, making the tension in the corridor feel almost suffocating.

Zexion sent a slight glare at Zack when he felt the tension rise. It wasn't the best time to start asking questions like this, especially not when Zack knew damn well what Axel thought about it.

"Don't **ever **compare him with **them**," Axel said, not threateningly or coldly, he simply said it, with his back turned to Zack and Zexion, "He's special, no one before him have ever made me feel this way..." he then said, a lot more softly as he looked down at a spot on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Zack said and scratched the back of his head, "I just don't want either you or him end up getting hurt by this, you know," he then added softly and gave Axel a pat on his shoulder, "Sorry to bring it up."

Axel sighed deeply and shook his head as he went up to his own locker and got his things out, "It's all right, I know you didn't mean to."

Zexion let out a quiet sigh in relief, it wouldn't have been pretty if they had started another fight. He knew that Axel was very easily angered, especially when it came to **that** topic. It had happened before, that time his rage had been triggered by Zack as well. But luckily enough Zack was both bigger and stronger than Axel, therefore hindering him from hurting anyone. Well, hurting anyone but himself.

"Well, guess we'll see you tomorrow?" Axel then asked, still his back turned, slowly closing his locker to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah, I'll be here the usual time," Zack said softly, "Bye Axel, Zexy," he then said with a small smile on his face.

Zexion closed his eyes, "Bye **Zachary**," he said, putting extra edge in the name Zachary since he knew the older teen didn't like his full name, Zack grinned sheepishly and hurried away. Zexion sighed as Axel turned around, his books under his arm, "Why Zexy?" he asked in a mutter, more to himself than anyone else.

A small smile tugged at Axel's lips, "Blame Demyx," he said.

"I hate my parents," Zexion said, ignoring the Demyx comment, even though it actually was true that Demyx was the one who had started to call him Zexy or just Zex. But who in their right mind would name their child Zexion?

At this Axel couldn't help chuckling, and it made Zexion smile a bit, "I guess you and Roxie could start a club," he stated with a slight smile on his face.

Zexion sighed and pulled a hand trough his hair, "Yeah... By the way, what happened before I arrived? Roxas looked kind of bruised."

Axel tensed slightly and then sighed in frustration, suddenly remembering the bastard, Riku.

"Apparently Riku slammed him into a wall and then gave him a punch to his face," Axel muttered, "He was about to hit him again but I was faster," he then stated with a slight smirk on his face.

"What? Why did he target Roxas?" Zexion asked with a frown on his face.

"From what Roxas said it seemed Riku thought Roxas had said something to hurt Sora and he got pissed of when Roxas told him to ask Sora about it instead," Axel explained with a hand wave as they made their way through a more lively corridor, "Damn I wish Zack hadn't ripped me away from him, I would have killed the fucking bastard!"

"Calm down, you know it isn't worth it," Zexion said with a sigh, "He's a spoiled brat."

Axel snorted and crossed his arms, "You for sure got that right," and with that both teens entered their classroom and settled down, being in time for their lesson... Unlike two other teens.

"Professor Vexen, we're really, really, **really** sorry!" Demyx pleaded with big puppy eyes as he looked at the annoyed teacher who was giving them a really nasty glare. Everyone in the classroom was holding their breath watching the two late students. It was common knowledge that you didn't get late for Vexen's lessons. It was almost considered suicide.

"I have overseen your faults several times, Mizu(1), and this is the second time in two weeks that you're late. With Strife," he stated with a hard edge to his voice.

Demyx made a whining sound, "Bu-but!"

Roxas took a deep breath and stepped forward, "It's my fault that we're late, Professor, I fell down the stairs and Demyx helped me since I was bleeding, I'm sorry," he said and bowed slightly at the same time as he shut his eyes tightly, praying to God that Vexen would overlook it this time as well.

The teacher made a slight grimace as he looked at Roxas who soon dared to open his eyes once more.

"...FINE!" he shouted after a while and then pointed to two empty seats, "Just sit down and listen! This is the last time I let you two get away!" he hissed and the two blondes hurried to their places and sat down with looks of relief on their faces. It seemed they had some luck on their side. But that was only what they thought for a moment...

Roxas moaned as he shut his locker and looked at Demyx who was looking as strained as Roxas did, "I thought he said we'd get away..." Roxas said as he massaged a sore shoulder.

Demyx grunted as he shoved his things into his locker, "Vexen's a fucking sadist, I bet he'd torture us if he were allowed to do so!" Demyx exclaimed and then sighed deeply as he shut his locker and then looked at the watch, "Great, I have to get home right now... For once I'm going to put some effort into my studying since we got that test tomorrow..."

Roxas gave a simple nod as he pulled out his bag and a light jacket from his locker, summer was on its way to turn into autumn so you never knew about the weather these days.

"Do so, and if you get stuck on anything just give a call," Roxas then said with a slight smile on his face since he knew Demyx had talked about that he dreaded the upcoming history test.

"You sure I can do that?" Demyx asked with really big puppy dog eyes even though Roxas already had given him permission to do so, the other blonde nodded and let out a chuckle, "You're great, Roxie!" he then squealed and gave Roxas a hug, this time a pretty gentle hug.

"It's nothing really," Roxas said and smiled, "See you tomorrow then?" he asked and Demyx nodded with a wide grin on his face before he started backing away.

"See you!" he called before he disappeared behind a corner, leaving Roxas alone once more. Just the other kids from same class there. Including Sora.

Roxas just had time to catch Sora's eye but he soon turned around, ready to leave. He had no interest in meeting any of the other preps right now. He didn't trust anyone of them if Riku would beat him up over nothing. He and Sora had simply been talking, he hadn't said anything to hurt Sora, it had more been the other way around!

"Roxas!"

Roxas sighed inwardly as he heard Sora's voice call for him. Should he turn around and face him? Or should he simply ignore him? It was quite a hard decision to make.

After taking a few more hesitant steps Roxas sighed and cursed himself for being so nice, he turned around and looked at Sora who was approaching him, with quite a worried look on his face.

"Roxas, I am so sorry!" he said with wide eyes as he saw the split lip and the bruise that had started to take form on Roxas's face, "If I knew that Riku would do something like this..."

"I don't want any apologizes," Roxas stated as he looked at the devastated brunette who looked as if he was about to start crying any second, "Because you didn't do this, Riku did."

Sora blinked and opened his mouth, "But-,"

"Seriously Sora, Riku has some major problems with me and I don't have a clue what," Roxas exclaimed and shook his head, "And if it weren't for Axel he would probably have punched my teeth out, so what am I supposed to say?"

"I just... I..." Sora trailed of and then sighed deeply and looked into Roxas's eyes.

"Don't say anything Sora, I don't feel like talking right now," Roxas said with a sigh and shook his head, "But I'm not mad at you so just take it cool, all right?" he then stated and looked at the brunette who gave a slow nod.

"But... Are you okay?" Sora then asked softly.

Roxas gave a nod, "Yeah, I think Riku is worse of than me," he stated with a shrug and then turned around, "See you," he said before he quickly slipped behind a corner and let out a sigh of relief.

Now all Roxas had to do was to head home... Or... Wait for Axel. He wanted to know what they were to each other. He was still a bit confused about the kissing they had been doing after Axel had beaten Riku up. It wasn't that Roxas regretted it, he just wanted to be sure that it wasn't something that just happened and wouldn't happen again. It would be a real blow if it was that way... Roxas didn't think he'd ever be able to look at Axel again if that was how it was.

'What if he just was wrapped up by the mome-,' Roxas thinking was cut of by a pair of green eyes staring at him from a very close distance, it made Roxas yelp and almost bump his head into Axel's.

Axel grinned and let out a chuckle, "Finally, I got no contact at all from you!" he said with another laugh and then looked at Roxas who was stuttering out things that made no sense at all.

"A-Axel, don't... don't ever scare me like that again," Roxas said warily and then smiled mildly.

"Sorry, but you were up in the blue," Axel replied with a grin, "So Roxas..." he then said and trailed of as he looked at said blonde.

Roxas gave a slight nod and shyly looked up at Axel, "Does this mean... that we are..."

Axel smirked as he saw how the blonde started to blush, "Going out? Dating? Going steady? Boyfriends?" he suggested and smiled widely as he saw how Roxas got even redder than before and nodded, "I don't know, I'd like to think so," Axel said softly and looked at his Roxas. Yes, **his** Roxas.

Roxas smiled softly and nodded again, "I'd like that as well," he quietly replied as he kept his eyes locked with Axel's.

At this Axel smiled widely and then bent down a bit so he could place a soft kiss on Roxas's lips, making the blonde, if it even was possible, to blush even more than before.

"J-just for your information..." Roxas then said after the kiss, as he tugged slightly at the end of Axel's shirt, "Can we take it a bit slow...? I... My last relationship wasn't so great and..."

Axel cupped Roxas's face in his hands to get the blonde's attention, "Of course, I'm not about to push you," he softly said and then ruffled Roxas's hair with a smile on his face, "I'm happy with knowing that the feeling is mutual."

"Yeah," Roxas said and smiled widely as he felt Axel grab his hand and start walking against the entrance with him.

"Do I have the honour to escort you home?" he asked with a wink and a grin on his face, making Roxas chuckle and roll his eyes before looking at the taller teen.

"Yeah, I guess you have," he said and snorted, Axel looked like a kid on Christmas, "But that doesn't mean you get to molest me."

Axel's happy face fell and was replaced by a cute pout, "Then I guess you can walk home," he said teasingly after a while and then put an arm around Roxas's shoulders, "But then I guess I would risk having you get kidnapped, hmm..." he said this thoughtfully as if he considered leaving Roxas behind.

"You wouldn't let me get kidnapped, right? What kind of boyfriend would that be?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow as they headed to the parking lot where Axel's car was parked at its usual spot. Roxas wouldn't be surprised if people were scared of using that spot. Everyone else's cars seemed to be parked at random places every day.

Axel sighed as he let go of Roxas, "I guess you are right, I can't screw up my first day as your boyfriend. That wouldn't be too good," he smirked as he unlocked the car and jumped inside as Roxas headed over to the other side of the car and got inside as well, and immediately fastened his seatbelt.

"You know... We don't know anything about each other," Roxas suddenly stated with a frown on his face, "Isn't it a bit weird?" he then asked as he looked at Axel who started the car engine, before he backed out of the parking lot he threw a look at Roxas.

"I guess it is," he said with a shrug, "But it isn't really normal to fall for someone this fast either. But you know, this mean we have all kind of things to find out about each other and our past lives," he then said with a slight smirk on his lips.

Roxas sighed lightly and nodded, "Just all things might not be so pleasant..." he said in a murmur as he looked out of a window, "Oh angsty past," he then added with a louder sigh as he shook his head.

Axel frowned slightly and then sighed as well, "Yeah, know what you mean with that," he said and kept his eyes on the road, "We all got our skeletons in our closets."

Roxas threw a glance at Axel, "Yeah we do... Guess that comes with the whole boyfriend package, huh?" he then asked with a half smile on his lips, making Axel smile as well.

"Yeah, but what matters is now, right?" he then asked and Roxas nodded at that, "The past is just to gain understanding, some things that happen can make a big change in life..." he said and then trailed of.

"That's true," Roxas said and then sighed again as he ran a hand through his messy hair, "I guess we'll take it one day at time?" he then asked as he looked at Axel.

Axel nodded and smiled as he threw a really short glance at Roxas before pulling over against Roxas's house, stopping the car, "No rushing needed," he said softly and then smiled at Roxas once more, "Do I get a good bye kiss this time as well? It's so awfully long until tomorrow..." he said with a puppy dog look on his face, making Roxas laugh as he took of his seatbelt.

"I guess you do deserve that since you were nice enough to give me a ride home," Roxas said with a small smile as he leant over to Axel who eagerly met Roxas's lips in a soft kiss, it didn't last for more than 5 seconds but it was still a really nice kiss, not to needy since Roxas wanted to take it slow. But none the less it was perfect.

Axel let out a content sigh when they parted and then grinned before affectionately ruffling Roxas's hair, "Now you better go in and explain to your brother, who got a mother complex, what happened to you," he said and chuckled when he saw how Roxas's face fell.

"Oh great..." he groaned and shook his head as he opened the door and stepped out, then he looked into the car again, "Well, see you tomorrow, right?" Roxas asked with tilted head.

"Of course, I'll pick you up!" Axel replied with a grin on his face, "Get some rest," he then said as the blonde smiled to later shut the car door. Axel drove away and Roxas headed for his house.

He let out a deep sigh as he opened the door and then shut it after himself. He could hear talking from the kitchen... Oh no... Don't say it's **him!**

With a feeling of doom looming over him he entered the kitchen. And sure as hell Cloud stood by the counter while Zack, of all people, sat by the table, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Ah, Roxa-... What the fuck happened?!" Cloud shrieked as soon as he saw the bruising covering parts of Roxas's face, he was soon up in front of his younger brother, closely examining the damage.

Roxas sighed as he sent a look at Zack which dared him tfo say anything, Zack just smiled sheepishly but didn't open his mouth.

"I fell down the stairs when I was on my way to chemistry, I and Demyx were late and you know... We rushed since you don't want to get late for Vexen's lessons..." Roxas said as he hoped the lie would go through to Cloud.

Said older brother's eyes narrowed as he then put his hands on his hips and really glared down at Roxas. Okay... That was evidence enough that Roxas hadn't pulled of the lie the way he had hoped for it to work.

"That must have been the lamest excuse I have ever heard," Cloud stated as he crossed his arms and looked at his younger brother who tried to give him his best puppy dog eyes. But it was in vain, the only one's eyes Cloud couldn't resist would always be Zack's, for some damn reason.

Roxas sighed in exasperation as he saw how Zack smirked behind his cup of coffee as he watched the two brothers. How would Roxas get out of this one?

"Fine," Roxas muttered and closed his eyes for a short while, "I got into a fight with Riku, that's all there is to the story. Or wait, he got into a fight with me and then with Axel..." he then corrected himself with a nod.

Cloud frowned deeply as he looked at Roxas, "What? Why did he pick a fight, and with Axel too?" he asked in confusion.

Roxas sighed and shrugged as he looked at his older brother, "I'm not sure really, he thought I had hurt Sora's feelings and was angry as hell... And Axel got even more pissed when he saw that Riku punched me so uh... I think Riku looked worse than me," Roxas stated with a nod.

Zack snorted slightly and put his cup down, making the two brothers look at him, "What Axel did to him was nothing compared to what he would have done if I hadn't taken a hold on him," Zack said and tapped his fingers against the table surface, "He really cares about you, you know," he then said with a smirk on his face.

Cloud sighed and looked at his brother once more, "Is it hurting?" he then asked.

Roxas shook his head and was about to answer but he didn't have time to do more than open his mouth, then Zack just had to cut in.

"I bet it isn't, Axel kissed away the pain, right?" he asked with a wide grin, which soon turned to a sheepish smile since Roxas was glaring at him like he had uttered something horrible, and Cloud was staring with open mouth, from Roxas to Zack, as if he was searching some kind of confirmation, "Oh... I guess it wasn't my place to say that," he said and chuckled nervously.

"I think you should leave now, **Zachary**," Roxas said with a hard glare which made the raven haired male jump out of his seat with a squeak.

"Indeed," Cloud replied dryly, "I and Roxas have some things to talk about, in private," he said while looking at Roxas.

Roxas swallowed and suddenly wished he hadn't told Zack to leave. But now the older male was already running out of the house in fear of getting killed by simply being glared at. He so knew he had said too much.

'Great,' Roxas thought as he turned to his brother who glared at him with a grave look on his face. Roxas couldn't do more than smile nervously.

"Well, it doesn't hurt any longer, that's good, right?" Roxas said jokingly and chuckled nervously.

Roxas should have known that Cloud wasn't going to laugh.

**A/N:** (1) Mizu means water, and yeah, I am lame like that XD  
Thank you guys for reviewing, it keeps my writing spirit up, and it was nice to see that people cared that I had a hard time, but it's better now cause my relative is for the moment feeling a lot better and they're about to send him home, as long as nothing more happens. So I pray that he'll be fine.  
Weeell, now things are happening here :D The **AkuRoku** is starting to take form. And I know I rushed things a bit. But at least I made a two week timejump, maybe that helped... or not xD Either way! I have done a major plot change, which isn't affecting anyone of you since you didn't know the original plot. The reason I changed plot is that I recently read an AkuRoku fic that pretty much contained what I was thinking about so it feels like people would think that I copied from that one if I wrote mine like that as well. Even though I thought about it before reading it. But I like my new plot better either way! :D  
Well, soon I am of to a convention, cosplay, merchandise, cosplayer, friends, here I come! ;D

**Axel: **HOLY SHIT! She actually did make Roxas mine! -happy dance- **REVIEW MORE! **She might give us **LEMONS!  
Demyx: **Did someone mention lemons?! 8D


	7. Chapter 7

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** So well, here I am with another chapter for you! It's a timejump in the beginning. Cause I don't want to make like three chapter filled with nothing of interest to reach this point. And there'll be some revealing of Roxas's past. And there's definitely AkuRoku ongoing, but no lemons yet. I am not making things move that fast! I really hope I didn't make this chapter too... mushy. Or something like that. I think it's pretty good, even though it's quite angsty at it's places. But don't you worry. There'll be some humor in next chapter XD

**Thanks:** **genocide-bloodshed**, **auPHE**, **Plain Jane Is A Vampire**, **tiffy jeevas**, **kelle611**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **Ally Montgomery**, **h0n3ybun**, **The Infamous Me**, **keiyoku** and **FatFreeBacon**. It's you reviewers who keep me going! :D

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + sidepairings: Zemyx/Dexion, ZackCloud(?) and perhaps RiSo), swearing, future lemons, future violence.

**Disclaimer: **Do I have to say it? Everytime I do it kills a part of me! T,T  
**Zexion: **You're just too much, you do **not** own **Kingdom Hearts**, or any of us characters in it!  
-authress dies a little bit inside-

* * *

**Chapter 7**  
It had passed two weeks since the day Riku had beaten Roxas. Two weeks since Axel for the first time had kissed Roxas. Two weeks since Cloud had given the longest scolding ever to Roxas (and it had gotten Roxas grounded for a weekend). One week since Axel had romantically enough taken Roxas out to dinner. One day since Axel had told some random fangirls that the only one for him was Roxas. One hour since Axel had kissed Roxas. One minute since Axel last had messaged Roxas. Not a second had passed without Axel occupying Roxas's mind.  
And yet... Roxas missed him. And he had only been without him for about one hour, how pathetic wasn't that? But well, what was making him feel a lot better was that he was invited over to Axel's house. Alone. No Demyx, Zexion, Namine or Zack. They'd get some alone time and a chance to get to know each other better than before.

"What am I supposed to wear?" Roxas murmured as he looked into the mirror, he wore black pants, a black and white checkered hoodie. Maybe that would be enough either way, it would be a bit embarrassing to go there all dressed up... And either way it would just be the two of them. And it would probably be better to have comfortable clothes than being dressed up.

Roxas sighed as he put on some new socks and then headed out from his room and quietly out to the hall, he was trying to avoid his annoyed brother. Cloud had been in a bad mood for some days, apparently it involved a certain Zack Fair and Cloud's big love, Fenrir.

"Where are you going?" a sharp voice asked which made Roxas groan inwardly as he turned to meet Cloud's irritated glare. Roxas made himself a mental note to blame Zack for his brother's pissy mood.

"I told you yesterday that I was going to Axel's house today," Roxas said with a shrug as he put on his jacket, "I'm spending the night there as well," he then added, which he knew could be a bad idea.

Cloud blinked, "Roxas, do you really think I'll-,"

"It's me, Axel, Demyx, Zexion and Namine for God's sake!" Roxas exclaimed, a small white lie couldn't hurt, "And either way I wouldn't jump into bed with him just like that, we've only been together for two weeks," he added with a mutter as he proceeded with putting on his shoes.

Cloud grumbled under his breath and then let out a sigh, "Yeah, yeah, don't do anything stupid at least," he then said and gave Roxas a slight pat on his shoulder, "And if you happen to see Zack... Give him my best," he then said with a strained voice as he headed back into the living room. That had basically meant that Roxas would tell Zack to stay away from Cloud for a while.

Roxas smiled slightly and shook his head as he headed out of his house and then started his walk against Axel's place.

He thanked God that he had gone by Axel's place some times when Axel had had to pick some stuff up, otherwise Roxas would never have been able to find his way there. Especially since it took about half an hour to reach his destination.

"Let's see... Second floor... third door to the right..." Roxas murmured for himself as his eyes travelled from door to door until it got fixed on the door that said **R. Sinclair**. It could only be where Axel lived, right?

With a soft sigh and a small feeling of nervousness Roxas knocked on the door and patiently waited. Soon he could hear loud footsteps from the other side of the door and before he knew it he was nearly knocked down by the door as it was opened up. Roxas jumped back with a yelp and looked up to see bright red hair, "Axel, I told you to not- Wait a moment..." Roxas blinked and trailed of as he looked at the person standing in front of him, those eyes were blue, not emerald green, but he had tattoos under his eyes as well, "You're not Axel," Roxas then stated with a look of surprise on his face.

The redhead in the doorway grinned widely and shoved Roxas inside without warning, "Oh lovely! I've been dying to meet my brother's boyfriend!" the tall redhead said, still a grin plastered straight over his face, "And you're even cuter than I imagined... Damn age difference..." he said with a sigh of exasperation as Roxas stared at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Reno, Axel's older brother," the redhead, now known as Reno, said and extended his right hand which Roxas warily took and gave a slight shake, "Aaw, aren't you adorable?" he cooed which made Roxas stutter incoherently as he looked at the taller male who smirked at him. That smirk seemed to run in the family.

"RENO! You better not be flirting with my boyfriend!" an angry shout was heard from another room of the apartment, "AND GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Reno sighed and shook his head as he let go of Roxas's hand, "Kids are so disrespectful these days..." he said in drama, "Well, it was nice to meet you but if I don't leave, Axel will most likely try to kill me. And I'll miss out on my date!" he happily said as he pushed past Roxas, but before leaving he smirked and whispered next to Roxas's ear, "Don't have too much fun, yo," and with that the older redhead was gone, leaving a blush on Roxas's face as he got his shoes and jacket off.

Before Roxas had time to shout for Axel, said redhead appeared in the doorway with a slightly annoyed face expression which turned into a smile at seeing Roxas.

"Hey Rox," he said softly as he headed up and softly kissed Roxas, "Sorry about Reno, he was supposed to go about one hour ago but he was so damn stubborn about seeing you," he said with a chuckle as he grabbed Roxas's hands.

Roxas let out a chuckle as well, "It's all right, I bet my brother would do the same... for different reasons thought," he said sheepishly as he thought about Cloud. When Fenrir was broken someone would have to pay. And Axel was something good for Cloud to direct anger at, for some reason.

"He still wants to see me dead, huh?" Axel asked and smirked as Roxas sighed and shrugged.

"I had to say that the whole gang were going to be here, he wouldn't have let me go else wise," Roxas said and rolled his eyes when he thought of his overprotective brother, "I don't know what's up with him."

Axel smiled softly as he pulled Roxas into the living room of the apartment. It didn't seem to be a very big apartment but none the less it was nice and had a homey feeling to it, and that was all that mattered, right? Well, Roxas soon found himself pulled down in the couch, looking straight into emerald green eyes.

"I just think you're brother is worried that I might rape and kill you," Axel said with a chuckle, "But then I guess he got some rights to think that," he added and scratched his head slightly.

Roxas sighed but smiled slightly, "That would be Cloud," he said and then turned silent.

For a while the two teens just looked at each other. There was no tension between them, just pure contentment. It was something that was nice with them, they hadn't know each other for more than a month, they hadn't been together for more than two weeks... But still they had no problems with long silences or watching each other for several long minutes.

"Get to know time then, huh?" Axel asked softly as Roxas nodded, "And if something is sensitive territory, you don't have to answer, right?" he then suggested and once more earned a nod from Roxas.

Axel chuckled as he looked at his Roxas. The boy was so adorable, if Axel couldn't control himself he would most likely have given the blonde a glomp A la Demyx, but that would just result in a hurt Roxas. At least it did most times Demyx glomped Axel's blonde.

"All right..." Axel said as he wrapped an arm around Roxas's shoulders, "You could start if you want to...?"

Roxas licked his lips and then frowned, "I don't really know what to ask..." he said after a while.

Axel snorted and then smirked, "That's okay, I have many questions since there's still so much I want to know about you, you'll probably share some with me," he then said, "Just simple questions as well, like... what's your favourite colour?"

Roxas smiled slightly, "Differs, I like black and white when it comes to clothes, but I like other colours as well," he then said. Like that emerald green that Axel's eyes were. They were so enchanting that he could stare for hours. And he loved Axel's hair... And secretly he wondered if it was Axel's real hair colour...

"Like what?" Axel asked as he looked into Roxas's eyes.

Said blonde blushed lightly, "The same green as your eyes... It's amazing," he said in a murmur, "Wh-what about you?" he then asked before a blush had its time to make its way to his face.

"Well, I like red, black, orange, yellow..." he answered with a thoughtful face expression, "And..." he trailed of and poked Roxas's nose, "That sapphire blue colour of your eyes, they're quite amazing as well," he then said with a smirk on his face, this time a blush worked its way up on Roxas's face and it made Axel laugh, "And that colour fits your face," he added with a grin on his face.

"Shut up," Roxas muttered and crossed his arms as he glared at Axel, "I don't know what it is but something about you keep making me blush," he stated. And it was true. How many others could make Roxas blush like that? Not many persons, but now Axel had walked into Roxas's life and turned things upside down.

Axel just grinned even wider at this statement. He thought it was quite nice to be the only one to have that effect on Roxas. It probably meant that Roxas actually listened to what Axel said.

"So Roxas, are you hungry or something?" Axel then asked all of a sudden, "We've got all day and tomorrow so we don't have to sit and play Q & A like this, just spontaneous talk will be better," he said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Roxas replied as he saw how Axel got up from the couch, to not much later be dragged along with the redhead in to the kitchen.

Roxas blinked as he watched Axel rummage through the different cupboards and other storage places. Roxas was fairly surprised when he noticed that Axel had started to chop vegetables all of a sudden. He hadn't even realized that Axel had gotten the vegetables from the refrigerator, the redhead had been moving around fast as hell.

"You... can cook?" Roxas asked in surprise as he looked at Axel with wide eyes.

Axel glanced over his shoulder to flash a grin at the very surprised blonde, "Yeah, can't you?" he teasingly asked and stuck his tongue out.

"Of course I can, I just didn't think you were the kind of guy who could cook," Roxas said with a slight laugh as he pulled up his shirt sleeves, "Do you want help with something, what are you doing?" he then asked with a smile on his face.

"Would you be an angel and chop the chicken? We're making chicken, veggies, cashew nuts with fried noodles, if you like it," he stated as he watched how Roxas took place beside him and did as Axel said, "Living with Reno means no food unless I cook," he then stated with a smirk, "He sucks in the kitchen."

"Ah, at home it's the other way," Roxas said and chuckled, "Sounds good to me," he then said, actually it was one of Roxas's favourites.

Axel gave a slight nod as he moved the vegetables to the frying pan, and then started to chop some other veggies, "How come you moved here?"

"Stuff happened," Roxas said quietly, "And since Cloud lived here since earlier we moved here..."

Axel frowned, "What stuff?"

Roxas sighed deeply as he put the knife aside and then poured the chicken cubes into the frying pan as well, "Stuff that's a bit sensitive to talk about right now, later?" he asked with pleading eyes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to," Axel immediately said as he finished chopping what he had left as well. He washed the knives of and then put them in place before he moved to another cupboard and took out a package of noodles, "You don't have to talk about it later if you don't want to," he then added, not sure how sensitive the topic was.

Roxas smiled weakly as he leant against a counter, "Maybe not today at least... We'll see."

Axel nodded and smiled before he turned his attention to the food, "You know, I haven't lived here all my life either," he all of a sudden said and looked up in the ceiling.

"Actually, I lived at Destiny Islands, damn much smaller than this town," he said with a chuckle, "It was back when my parents were alive, I think I was 5 when they died... Doesn't feel like it have passed 12 years though..." he trailed of and sighed as he stirred the noodles around in the pan.

Roxas just watched and listened to Axel who was humming softly as he looked over the food. He was feeling a bit jealous... Axel seemed to be able to talk about his parents so easy. As fast as Roxas used to talk about his parents he felt like he was going to cry, and he had ended up crying several times. But Axel... He talked about his own parents as if he was talking about the weather.

"How much older is Reno?" Roxas then asked after while, his eyes set on Axel's back.

"Let's see... Reno is turning 24, so he's about 7 years older than me," he answered with a thoughtful face expression, "We were orphaned for a while since he was 11 back then, but when he turned 18 he took me and got out from the orphanage... And we ended up here in Twilight Town!" he then happily said as he smiled widely, "I couldn't have been more lucky. I've got a place to call home, I got Reno, my friends and my freedom," he said as he looked at Roxas who was looking at Axel with a soft smile on his lips. He liked how positive Axel was, it was good since Roxas used to be pretty negative. He could use some positive thinking around him.

"What about you, Rox?" Axel then asked softly.

Once more Roxas let out a sigh and pulled a hand through his hair, looking a bit troubled.

"I wish I had the same attitude towards life," Roxas said softly and let out a short chuckle, "I'm not really looking at things that way... So much happened in Hollow Bastion that I kind of lost my will to go on with life," he said and closed his eyes as he took a pause, "But I guess things have been getting better since we moved here to Twilight. Cloud and I... We didn't really know each other before our parents died. He wasn't living home, he lived with our grandmother. It's her house we're living in. She's dead now, though."

Axel tilted his head as he checked the food and then turned back to look at Roxas again, "So you basically got to know him when..." he trailed of since Roxas already had nodded.

"Yeah... And I wasn't talking at first. And then everything else happened and I just shut everything and everyone out," Roxas said and sighed, "Cloud thought I needed a new environment so that's how we moved here. And I guess it worked since as soon as we moved here I started to open up more and more," he then said with a small smile on his face.

"What happened must have been pretty bad, to make you close that much, huh?" Axel said questioningly as he started to set the table since the food almost were finished, Roxas just nodded as he watched Axel set things up, "Well, I'm happy that you moved here," Axel said with a smile on his face before he put a soft kiss on Roxas's forehead, and then chuckled at the light tinge of pink that crossed Roxas's cheeks.

Axel headed over to the stove again and threw a glance back at Roxas, "Sit down, it's finished either way," he said with a grin.

* * *

"Man, I think I ate too much..." Axel groaned as he put a hand on his stomach, "Gonna... puke..."

Roxas chuckled as he took a sip of his soda and looked at Axel who clearly was overdramatizing the whole thing. He hadn't eaten **that** much food.

"If you do... You'll have to clean it up," Roxas stated with a smirk on his face, "And I wouldn't let you kiss me," he then added and let out a laugh at Axel's horrified face expression at hearing that.

"Okay, okay, I wont throw up!" he exclaimed as he jumped up from his chair, grabbing their plates in his run and dumped them in the sink, "See! I'm all fine and dandy!" he then said, in somewhat panic.

Roxas let out a slight snort before he burst out laughing at the panic Axel seemed to be in. Like he actually believed that Roxas wouldn't let him kiss him, "Fi-fine, I believe you," he said and chuckled as he stood up and helped Axel to get everything of from the table. Soon they were done and found each other staring at the other.

"So..." Axel said slowly and licked his lips, "Wanna watch a movie or something?" he asked with titled head as he grabbed Roxas's hands.

**Axel vocabulary §1**

**Wanna watch a movie Wanna cuddle?**

Roxas smiled and let Axel lead him away to the living room, "Sure," he said softly as he was pushed down into a couch by Axel. The redhead knelt by the DVD and flipped through a bunch of movies.

"So, I've already crossed out all horror movies from the list," Axel said with a grin on his face as he looked at Roxas, "Do you feel romantic, funny or dramatic?" he then asked with a slight smirk.

At first sight no one would suspect that Axel actually even could think about watching romance movies. But actually he didn't mind. There was some good romantic movies, and who knew? Maybe he and Roxas would get the mood up for something? Not that Axel was going to get into Roxas's pants just like that, he wasn't going to rush things. He didn't want to scare Roxas, especially not this early in their relationship.

"Or maybe drama romance, or romance comedy, or..." Axel trailed of as he looked at a DVD case, "Ugh..." he let out and put it back, "Reno's," he then stated.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess... Porn?" he asked with amusement.

Axel snorted, "Not any porn. **Straight** porn," he said and wrinkled his face in slight disgust, "I wonder how in hell it got here," he then said and let out a laugh.

**Axel vocabulary §2**

**Straight porn Extreme turn off**

"Reno's gay?" Roxas then asked in surprise. But then he thought of his little run in with Reno before the older brother had hurried away to his date, "Wait, don't answer that. Of course he is," he then said dryly.

"Well, what movie?" Axel then asked with a grin on his face when he saw Roxas's face expression.

"Uh... It doesn't really matter," Roxas replied with a frown on his face.

Truth to be told Roxas didn't really feel like watching a movie. He wanted to talk more with Axel. Somehow it made him feel good to hear Axel talk about his past, even though he knew he himself would have to tell Axel about his own past. It would only be unfair to not tell him.

"Hell with it, I don't care either," Axel said with a shrug as he took a random DVD and just put it in, "It's Titanic, we can talk through the movie if we feel like it," he said as he started the TV and then put pulled the curtains for the windows to give them more of a cuddle feeling.

"Sounds good to me," Roxas said softly as he relaxed in the couch as Axel walked up to it and sat down at the other end.

Before Roxas knew it he felt strong hands grab his shoulders and then he found himself leaning against Axel's chest as the title menu popped up on the TV. With a push of a button the movie started playing.

"Don't mind?" Axel murmured in Roxas's ear.

"Not at all," Roxas whispered back as he relaxed in Axel's arms and let his head rest against the redhead's chest, "Axel?" he then said questioningly after a while, not really directing his attention at the movie.

Axel looked down at the blonde hair, "Yeah?"

"I just... We're serious about this, right?" he then asked with slight worry in his voice.

Axel frowned as he wrapped his arms more tightly around Roxas, "Hell yeah, you... You're amazing," he said, "This might be early to say but... I think I love you," he then said softly.

Roxas closed his eyes and let a smile slip up on his lips. To hear those words from Axel felt really good. It made him feel special, "Thanks, I think I love you too," he whispered as he listened to Axel's heartbeat, and felt Axel's hand go through his hair in a soft stroking motion.

"Roxas, what was that about your earlier relationship?" Axel then asked softly, feeling the blonde tense up a little bit, "Remember what we agreed about sensitive topics," he immediately added to assure Roxas that he didn't have to get all fidgety.

Roxas took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more, "I... I had a boyfriend before my parents died," he said quietly, so Axel barely could hear him, "He was two years older than me so he was 17 and I was 15... We weren't really close, it was just a fling. After the accident when I shut everyone out that included him," Roxas took a pause and felt how his stomach twisted around, making him feel a bit sick, "I told him I wanted to break up cause our relationship didn't mean anything to either one of us," he took a deep breath and shook his head.

Axel almost held his breath as he listened to Roxas, he had a bad feeling about where the story was heading. And he prayed he wasn't right about his vibes.

"He got so angry when I told him that... I don't think I ever have been that scared, I thought he was going to kill me," Roxas said and shuddered, "He beat me up pretty badly and... he... h-he raped me," he said the last part in a shaky whisper with his eyes tightly shut.

Axel felt how his good mood from earlier dropped to the bottom at hearing Roxas say that. It was what he had feared it to be, but still he hadn't thought it would be that way. Axel knew that he, in is own mind, used to overdramatize pretty much everything so that way he had thought that he had been wrong. But apparently not this time, but he wished he had been.

"Roxas..." he said in a faint whisper, his arms tightening around Roxas as he buried his face in Roxas's hair.

"That's why... I wanted to take it slow," Roxas said weakly, "I'm still having nightmares about it," he then added in a whisper, "That's... That's why we moved... After that he spread rumours, saying I was a whore who slept around with people," he said, "My best friends believed the rumours," he sadly mumbled.

"That's fucking stupid," Axel said, with forced calmness, but it still had an edge of anger and bitterness, "That's some fucking friends all right," he then added as he with some troubles flipped Roxas over so he could see his face.

"Yeah..." Roxas said softly as he opened his eyes and looked into Axel's eyes which were filled with anger, "So... we left," he then said, "No one knows the truth though... No one but you, not even Cloud knows what happened," he then said.

"You've been walking around with all that on your mind, alone?" Axel asked, this time he almost looked sad as Roxas nodded, "God Roxas, I had no idea..." he murmured as he stroke his hand over Roxas's back, the movie playing in the background.

"Told you I hadn't the brightest look on life," he said quietly, "But it's okay now... Cause you made me fall down a tree, and along with that for you," he said with a small smile playing on his lips.

Axel smiled sadly as he looked at Roxas, "I can promise you that I'll never hurt you that way, I'd rather die than hurt you," he murmured before he placed yet another soft kiss at Roxas's forehead.

Roxas let his eyes shut as the small smile continued to play on his lips as he felt Axel's hand run trough his hair. And the calming sound of Axel's heartbeat soon had the blonde teenager falling asleep.

* * *

Roxas moaned slightly when he shifted and slowly opened his eyes. It was dark in the room, the only slight light source was the light from the digital watch that stood on a small table. Roxas squinted as he looked at the bright red numbers that lit up a small area of the table it was standing at... 3:04 am.

Roxas sucked in a deep breath and sank back down and cuddled up to his pillow... Wait a minute. That wasn't a pillow. It wasn't even close to a pillow cause what Roxas was lying on top of was moving and breathing, from experience Roxas knew that pillows didn't move or breath. Roxas held his breath as he squinted and soon enough he saw the outlines of Axel's face. Roxas let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know why he felt relieved really, what could it have been other than Axel?

Roxas smiled and his own silliness as he carefully put his head down to rest against Axel's chest once more. There was several hours before they should get up. And he felt safe in Axel's arms. Ah, yes, Axel had his arms strongly wrapped around Roxas. So there was no escape either way.

"Whasisthetime?" a low and sleepy murmur escaped Axel's lips which made Roxas twitch in surprise as he looked at Axel's relaxed face, said redhead let out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes with his left hand.

"About 3 am," Roxas answered in a whisper, still feeling tired, but then Axel muttered something under his breath as he started shifting, sitting up and pulling Roxas up in sitting position with him.

"Bed," Axel said in a soft murmur as he grabbed Roxas's hand and pulled said boy with him through the dark room, "Or we'll both suffer from sore necks tomorrow," he then added as he opened up the door to his bedroom and lead Roxas's to the bed, he lit the lamp at the table beside the bed.

Both Roxas and Axel flinched slightly at the sharp light, none of them had been ready to be blinded like that. Axel shook his head as he headed up to his drawers and then pulled out a big shirt that he threw Roxas's way, and then grabbed another one for himself before he pulled off his current shirt and put on the sleeping shirt, after that he simply kicked of his pants. Roxas soon followed Axel's example, but felt very small in Axel's big shirt. It was more like a dress on Roxas, almost reaching down to his knees.

With a soft sigh Roxas headed up to the bed, where Axel already had lied down, with arms open wide for Roxas.

"C'mon, Ax wants Rox back now," Axel whispered before he yawned once more, "I feel deprived," he then added.

Roxas couldn't deny Axel that and carefully climbed up the bed and settled down in Axel's arms, resting against his warm chest once more. Sure there was more than enough room beside Axel in the bed but it gave Roxas a feeling of safety in Axel's arms. And it didn't seem that Axel wanted to let go of Roxas either way.

With a soft sigh Axel reached over to the bed stand and turned of the lamp, making the darkness fill the room, "Good night, Roxie," he murmured, kissing Roxas's hair.

"Mmn," was all Roxas could let out since sleep was starting to overcome him again.

_So much for not jumping into bed with him, huh?_

* * *

"Good morning, sunshine," a soft voice said as Roxas's eyes fluttered open at feeling brightness in his eyes, he met the smirking face of Axel who was watching him, fully awake.

Roxas opened his mouth to reply but instead he let out a loud and wide yawn which made the redhead chuckle at him, "Not funny..." Roxas mumbled before he rubbed his eyes and then looked at Axel who still was smirking at him.

"What's the time?" Roxas then asked with his head tilted up to look at Axel who was leaning on his elbow, watching down on him, "How long have you been up?"

Axel shrugged, "It's about 10 am, I woke up around 9 o'clock I think..." he said, still not averting his eyes from Roxas a single second.

"You could have woken me up, you know," Roxas murmured as he felt Axel's arm wrap around his waist to pull him closer.

Axel grinned before he brushed his lips over Roxas's in a very soft kiss. Oh how Roxas wished he could wake up like this every morning. Then his awful morning mood would go away with ease.

"It's all right, first of all I know from experience that you don't appreciate being woken up," he teasingly said and poked Roxas's nose, making the blonde scrunch his nose and pout cutely, "And secondly I thought it was nice just watching you," he added with a small wink and a smile on his face, making Roxas blush a bit.

Roxas buried his face in Axel's chest and let out a content sigh, "I could live with being woken up like this every morning," he murmured and felt how Axel's chest vibrated when he laughed, "It's nicer than Cloud shouting my name," Roxas then added with a sheepish smile on his face.

Axel just let out another laugh and then sat up, once more pulling Roxas up with him, "What do you say about breakfast?" he then asked, not much later he had let go of Roxas and stood up. Roxas simply gave a nod before he got up from the bed as well and since Axel didn't care to dress properly he simply followed the redhead out to the kitchen once more.

"What do you wanna do today?" Axel asked as he rummaged through the refrigerator in hunt for breakfast, he ended up getting butter and some other things for the bread. Along with some orange juice.

Roxas shrugged as he sat down on a cold chair, shivering slightly as his pretty much naked legs came in contact with the cold wood. Maybe it would have been better to at least put his pants on again...

"I don't know, what will the weather be like today?" he asked as he glanced out through a window, it looked pretty bright for the moment but both he and Axel knew that the summer pretty much was over and if it was bright it was the last moments of summer before autumn.

"Believe they said that the weather would be good," he said with a shrug as he put some bread on the table, "Think this is the summer's last breath before autumn," he then added with a slight sigh, "Maybe we should go out and do something?" he then suggested with a questioning look at Roxas.

Roxas nodded with a smile on his face, "That would be nice," he said as he looked out once more and sighed, "There's so much time before it will be summer again..." he then said with a slight grimace on his face, "I hate winter," he added.

Axel sighed as he sat down by the table, "Then we're two," he said as he out a glass in front of Roxas, "I hope you're happy with bread and orange juice, I'm not feeling up to making pancakes or something like that, " he then said with a grin on his face.

"This is all right," Roxas said with soft smile, "It's breakfast."

Axel just gave a small grin before preparing himself a slice of bread with some ham on and then taking a bite of it and letting out a sigh of contentment when he swallowed it, "Yay. Food," he said and grinned widely at Roxas before he took another bite.

Said blonde sighed but couldn't help smiling, "You've been hungry since you woke up, right?" he asked as he prepared himself a bread slice, but with cheese.

Axel gave a slight shrug before smirking, "Depends on what, hungry on food or you?"

Roxas rolled his eyes as he focused on his breakfast, he had learned to handle most of Axel's comments these past two weeks since he really had a habit of making Roxas blush. But there was still much that could make Roxas almost want to faint from embarrassment.

"Very funny, Axel," Roxas mumbled under his breath before he took a large bite of his sandwich.

Axel just grinned as he focused on his own breakfast as well. At least for a short while. Because not so much later Axel's phone started buzzing. Axel sighed as he picked it up and looked at the display with a frown on his face, why in hell was Zexion calling him at this time?

"Who's calling?" Roxas asked at seeing Axel's surprised face expression.

"Zexy," Axel said with shrug before sighing and answering the phone, "Hey, Zex!" he happily answered none the less.

Roxas watched how Axel licked his lips and listened to what Zexion was saying. Roxas couldn't make anything out from where he was sitting but he could hear hurried talking. And judging by the wide eyes on Axel's face Roxas could guess that something big had happened. Good or bad? Roxas didn't know.

"Are you kidding with me?" Axel asked in unbelief, pulling a hand through his messed up spikes, "You can't be serious..." he then said and let out a half laugh but fell silent once more, with a frown upon his face.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a short while, "Even Demyx isn't that stupid," he said and let out a chuckle but soon looked serious, "Oh... Yeah. I heard that... Fuck? What was he... No, don't even answer that. Shit, where are you? ...All right, I and Rox will be there soon," with that Axel hung up on Zexion and looked at Roxas, still with wide eyes.

"You can't believe what Demyx have done..." he said, totally amazed for some reason, his lip was twitching slightly. Either in amusement or irritation.

Roxas looked quite worried, "What did Demyx do this time?" he asked, being a little bit afraid of the answer he might get. After all both of them knew that Demyx was capable of doing pretty stupid things sometimes. And if Zexion even called about it... It couldn't be something great.

Now Axel cracked an evil grin as he stood up and then grabbed a camera from the kitchen counter. Then he turned to Roxas, still with an evil grin on his face.

"**Demyx is stuck inside a wall!**"

* * *

**A/N: **Heh, yeah you got it right. Demyx is stuck inside a wall. How? That's something you'll have to find out in the next chapter XD  
And I apologize for spelling/grammar errors. Now I think I have to go and search for my money... I had like 200 in an envelope, and I kind of just dropped it in my room. At some random place... And now I can't find it. Wish me good luck, I'll need it. x,o

So, what did you think? **Please review! 8D  
Demyx: **Do so, cause I don't wanna be stuck inside a wall for long! Dem needs lots of luv! T,T


	8. Chapter 8

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** Hello there everyone! I'm breaking my own rule an publishes this chapter before I am supposed to, since I am not finished with the 9th yet... But whatever, next update might take a little longer cause I have a lot to do, I hope you guys are okay with that? Cause I don't want to stress everything together, the quality of the chapters might get lower then, and I don't want that, and not you guys either, I hope XD  
I had a great time writing this chapter, cause, 1: It's fun to put Demyx in a wall, 2: I got to have some more AkuRoku romance and 3: I get to bring Cloud back into the picture! :D

**Thanks: ****kelle611**, **MrSpoonLovesYou**, **Tinuleaf** (a little extra thanks for the extremely long review!), **vamprincessmiyu**, **keiyoku**, **FatFreeBacon**, **Plain Jane Is A Vampire**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **freakenout**, **kaiyurichan818**, **The Infamous Me**, **Kumachannanoda**, **Ally Montgomery**, **MissCourtney002**, **KDLizzy's Gay Cookies**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **XxVampirexchanxX**, **h0n3ybun** and **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**. I was really surprised by getting so many reviews for last chapter, thank you guys very much, it really made me happy!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku + some side pairings), swearing, future lemons, future violence (gotta love raging Axel :D) and... stuff.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I wanna own it... ;3;

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"**Demyx inside stuck in a wall!"**

Roxas was still in major shock and disbelief since Axel had uttered those six words to him. They were walking down some blocks and were just passing by the clock tower at Station Heights. Demyx Mitsu was stuck in a wall. In a **freaking** wall! Roxas wasn't even sure he wanted to know how or why the other blonde had gotten stuck in the wall in the first place. It must have been some really stupid reason behind it all. Who the hell managed to do that?

"God, I hope he's still stuck when we get there!" Axel said with a loud bark of laughter as he clutched the camera in his hand, "It will so end up on YouTube if he's still stuck!" he then added with a wide grin on his face as he thought of all the views that would earn him. Cause face it, people like watching other people's stupidity and misfortune. That's common knowledge, with a few exceptions.

Roxas just sighed at Axel's enthusiasm, "Axel, that isn't exactly a nice thing to say or do," he warily said as they passed by some people who were out walking their dog, they were glancing at the odd couple, "He could get hurt you know," he then added with a look on Axel, ignoring the people who looked at them.

The redhead rolled his eyes, still not letting his grin fall from his face, "If Demyx was hurt Zexion would have called the hospital, and not me, this will be such an EPIC WIN for me! And epic fail for Demyx!" he squealed and grinned widely.

Roxas couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle at Axel's excitement. He acted like a four year old at Christmas. The redhead was acting that happy and childish.

"I still wonder how he got stuck in the first place... But I'm not sure I want to know how," Roxas said and shook his head with a sigh. Axel laughed again.

"Only Demyx," he happily said, "I'll never forget when he got stuck in my dryer... Reno had to pour oil all over him to get him out," Axel told with a grin on his face, "He has a thing for getting stuck but I never thought he'd end up inside a wall of all things!"

* * *

"It **isn't** funny!" Demyx whined, with one arm reaching out of the whole in the wall to cover his face from being videotaped by Axel, "I have been stuck in here for an hour!" he then said with a pout on his face, looking out from the hole, only to get the camera pretty much shoved up in his face.

Roxas stared at Demyx in amazement mixed with horror. He had no fucking clue how Demyx had pressed himself through the small hole in the wall to get into the hollow space inside... Even Roxas who was smaller wouldn't feel safe with trying to get through that small hole.

"How the hell did you manage to get in but not out?" Axel asked as he clutched his stomach, holding onto the wall for support. He was laughing so badly that he was on the verge of crying. And Demyx was steaming. And what was even better? He had it on tape!

Zexion stood a bit aside with a bitter face expression. He didn't want anyone to have to come and saw his wall open to get out his boyfriend. But he knew he couldn't let Demyx live in between his walls. Why, oh why, had he left Demyx alone in the room when he knew so well how stupid his boyfriend could be? And why hadn't he gotten that hole fixed up in the first place?

"We've tried to get him out but he gets stuck around the middle," Zexion said and let out a moan in frustration, "You are an idiot," he then stated at seeing Demyx poke his face out of the small hole.

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment, he was really feeling Zexion's frustration. Roxas himself would be pretty annoyed if Axel got stuck in his wall or something like that. But he couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for Demyx as well. He did really look unhappy in the hollow wall. They all knew that Demyx disliked not being able to do anything, he needed his freedom.

"I just wanted to look!" Demyx whined from inside as he pulled back a little bit, his voice echoed slightly.

"Fuck, I think you'll have to saw the wall open," Axel wheezed out as he wiped some tears away from his eyes, finally done laughing.

Zexion flinched as he looked at his wall. It would cost money. And it would for sure take hours to get someone there to saw it up. And to let Axel or Roxas use a saw to get Demyx out... he was pretty sure that Demyx wouldn't come out completely intact since there wasn't much room inside the wall. And he liked his boyfriend with all his limbs, why thank you.

Roxas pulled a hand through his messed up hair and then let out an irritated sigh as he took of hoodie, which left him in a black sleeveless tank top and his tight black jeans. Both Zexion and Axel looked at him in confusion as he headed up to the hole in the wall where Demyx curiously peeked out at Roxas.

"I'm getting in and pushing at him from his side as you guys pull," he said with a deep sigh, "I'm smaller so I should be able to get out without any bigger problems," he then said and looked into the hollow wall through the pretty small hole. He shuddered slightly at the thought of the dark room. He was "a little bit" claustrophobic but they had to get Demyx out of there, and it couldn't be **that **small, right? And he should have gotten over his fear of dark and small spaces.

"You're getting in?" Demyx asked in surprise as he backed away from the hole as much as he could, which weren't far, "You don't have to, you might get stuck as well!" he said with slight worry.

Roxas turned to Axel and Zexion, ignoring Demyx comment, "When I count to three from in there, then pull, all right?" he asked and both of them nodded as Roxas first of all put his arms through the small hole and after that his head. After a good minute of twisting around Roxas landed on a dusty small floor with a thump. And everything was dark, just a little bit of light shining through the hole. He also found himself lying at Demyx feet. He hadn't thought the hollowness was **that** small, but apparently it was.

"Sh-shit!" Roxas squeaked as he got up from the floor and immediately bumped into Demyx. It wasn't really enough space for both of them. He thought it had been the size of a smaller room. Not like a really small closet, probably even smaller, "I didn't think it was this small!" he cried as he reached out with his arms and found that he hardly had any space, especially with Demyx in there as well. A weak whimper escaped Roxas as he sank down to the floor again.

"Hey, you okay?" Demyx asked with tilted head since Roxas was breathing faster and was sitting down on the floor again, looking panicked, "Roxas?"

"It's crammed!" Roxas hysterically said, "I wanna get out! It's too small in here!"

Axel blinked as he heard the slightly panicked voice of Roxas from inside, "Rox, are you all right?" he asked as he got up to the hole, which made pretty much all light disappear, making Roxas whimper once more as he wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his arms, "Oh no..." Axel said and groaned as he turned around to look at Zexion.

"Roxas, are you claustrophobic?" Demyx asked from inside as he tried to kneel down to pat Roxas, but it was hard in the crammed area, and he was only replied with another whimper, "Why didn't you say so!?" he then exclaimed from inside in somewhat worry and a bit of tiredness hinted in his voice.

Axel groaned again, apparently Demyx was right about his little statement and now both blondes were stuck inside the wall since Roxas apparently was too scared to actually help Demyx out so they could get Roxas out. This was just perfect!

"Call Zack," Zexion said with a deep sigh, "and tell him to bring the saw," he then added with his back turned to Axel.

"Why do I have to call?" Axel asked with crossed arms and a pout on his face.

Zexion took a deep breath to calm himself down, hearing Demyx trying to comfort Roxas in the background, "Because, Axel, I am contemplating suicide right now," he calmly said and with that Axel smiled sheepishly and got his phone up and dealt Zack's number.

"Yo, it's Axel," Axel said with a sigh as he tapped his fingers against the table surface, "Are you free like... now?" he then asked and let out a slight chuckle and then grinned widely, "...Then get your ass over to Zexion's, and bring a saw," he said and silenced and then sighed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so get your ass over here now, it's urgent," he then seriously said since he heard Roxas whimper again, and he really sounded upset. Sure he found the situation amusing in a bizarre way, but he didn't like Roxas being scared.

"Yeah, yeah, see you soon, Zack," he then said and hung up on Zack, with that he turned to Zexion who was standing by the window with his eyes closed, like he really was trying to keep himself from getting mad or just kill something. Axel didn't really

"I don't wanna be here, I don't wanna be here, I don't wanna be here..." Roxas started repeating in a small voice as he rocked back and forth, "Let me out, let me out..."

Axel frowned and the faint sounds of Roxas's voice from the hollowness in Zexion's wall. With a sigh he headed up to the hole again, "Guys, Zack's on his way," he said with a slightly worried look. Roxas was still talking to himself, "Dem, how is he doing?" he asked with some insecurity.

Demyx sighed, he had an arm wrapped around Roxas's shoulder as he looked up where he could see Axel's worried face through the hole, "I think he must have been locked in somewhere earlier, hard to say how he's doing," he said with a sigh, "I don't get why he jumped in if he's claustrophobic," he then said.

"You shouldn't say anything Dem," Axel said with a raised eyebrow, "Since you're in there for like... no reason at all. Roxas at least tried to help you," he said and sighed before he backed away from the hole and proceeded with waiting for their help to arrive. He just hoped Zack would hurry so they could get Roxas out of the wall. And of course Demyx as well.

* * *

"Holy shit... When you said that I wouldn't believe you I never thought that it was something like this," Zack said with wide eyes as he peeked in through the hole, "Are you blondies okay in there?" he then asked, looking down at Roxas and Demyx.

"I'm all fine but I'm not so sure about Roxas..." Demyx said with a half smile, "He's in is own world," he then added and poked Roxas nose, without any reaction from Roxas.

"All right, all right," Zack said as he got the saw out, "I'm gonna get your guys out soon enough, gonna make the hole bigger," he cheerfully said as he started to slowly saw his way through the wall. That was so Zack, always being happy.

Axel and Zexion both stood behind, watching how Zack carefully sawed through Zexion's wall, making the hole bigger and bigger. But at least he didn't saw up the whole wall like Zexion had pictured it earlier... Zexion had been seeing, in his mind, how his whole wall had to be ripped away.

Zack was whistling a tune as he with some force ripped away a piece of wood from the wall and inspected the now larger hole. He frowned and sawed it even bigger, to make things easier for them.

A couple of minutes later he backed away. Now a hole that was big enough for them to pretty much step out from was there, and light lit up the hollow space which contained Demyx and Roxas.

"FREEDOM!" Demyx yelled as he pulled Roxas up from the floor and pretty much dragged the smaller, spaced out, blonde out from the hole in the wall, "Thank you, Zack, you saved our lives!" he happily said as he let go of Roxas and gave Zack a glomp, the raven haired man only laughed and patted Demyx back.

Roxas took a shaky breath as he found himself standing up in the bright room. The room with a lot of space, "Thank God..." he shakily said under his breath and slumped down a bit, making Zack chuckle.

"No, I'm not God, the name's Zack," Zack jokingly said, "But if you insist I guess you're allowed to call me God," he then added with a grin on his face.

Roxas just shook his head slightly as he stiffly walked up to Axel who immediately opened up his arms to greet his frightened boyfriend, "Roxas, if you're claustrophobic you shouldn't really do stuff like that," he said with a half smile on his face.

Said blonde just walked into Axel's arms and let out a sigh of relief, "I didn't think it was that small in there, I couldn't help panicking," he murmured into Axel's chest.

Axel let out a soft sigh and then smiled down at Roxas, "You're for sure special," he said softly and chuckled as Roxas glared up at him, "In a good way, of course," he added.

"Uh-huh," Roxas said and sighed as he felt how Axel let go of him to look at the others in the room.

"So... You guys interrupted my and Roxie's alone time so we're leaving," Axel said with a slight grin on his face, "And Zexy, maybe you should put a leash on your boyfriend, you don't want him to get stuck somewhere else," he then happily said as he saw how Demyx looked seriously offended, and Zexion looked as if he was ready to just die right on spot.

"Bye! And tell Cloud I'm sorry about Fenrir, Roxas!" Zack happily called as Axel pulled Roxas with him outside, well, after the blonde had put on his hoodie again.

Once they got outside Roxas, who usually wasn't much for PDA, actually pretty much glued himself to Axel's right side, making said redhead smirk for himself.

"That wasn't the brightest idea, you know," he said softly as he wrapped an arm around Roxas's shoulders while they walked the way back to Station Heights.

Roxas sighed deeply, "I didn't think my claustrophobia still was there," he defended, "Last time I panicked was when I was eight years old," he explained with a shrug, "I simply thought that I wouldn't do it now."

Axel chuckled, "Fears lies deeper down than you think," he simply stated as they all of a sudden ended up standing in front of the clock tower. Axel blinked and looked around and to his luck he saw an ice cream-stand not so far away, so he let go of Roxas, "I'll be right back! You, get up at the clock tower, remember that I told you about the stairs some days ago?" he asked and Roxas nodded in confusion as Axel rushed away.

Roxas shrugged as he walked to the back of the Central Station, and from there he found the ladder that would take him halfway up. After that there was a door that led inside the clock tower, and in there, there was stairs to the top of the tower. Roxas thanked God that he wasn't so scared of heights, then he'd most likely have died. After a few minutes of minor struggling Roxas found himself on the roof of the clock tower. The view was amazing... He could now see why Axel had been insisting on sometime taking Roxas's there.

"Wow..." Roxas said in amazement as he sat down and watched everything, he could practically see all Twilight town from there, and even some things outside of Twilight town...

"Amazing, isn't it?" Axel suddenly asked from Roxas's left side, making said blonde jump a bit in surprise, soon he realised that Axel was offering him an ice cream. A very blue ice cream, "You'll love it, it's seasalt ice cream!" he happily said as he took a bite of it.

Roxas frowned and looked down at the ice cream in his hands. Had Axel just said it was seasalt...? That sounded plain weird. But being a polite boyfriend Roxas sighed and took a bite of the icecream. Whoa! It was really salty, but wait... No-it's sweet! Or no, salt? Impossible to tell!

"It tastes really good!" Roxas said, still surprised over the odd sensation the icecream had brought upon him, he wasn't sure if it was salt or sweet.

Axel laughed at Roxas's face expression and just nodded, "This is a great place to just chill at," Axel said with a content sigh.

Roxas tilted his head as he sucked on the icecream, "You and the others usually go here?" he asked while glancing at his boyfriend.

Axel shook his head as he looked out over the horizon, "Nah, you're the first one I bring up here," he said with a smile on his face, "I want to share my spot with you," he then said with a really sincere smile on his face, almost making Roxas drop his icecream just cause he was looking at Axel's beautiful face.

"That means a lot," Roxas said softly and smiled back at Axel, "Thanks for everything you're doing for me, and for us," he then added as he scooted closer to his boyfriend who appreciated the act of affection from Roxas.

"I just thought you'd be the right one to share this spot with, I mean... Even Demyx haven't been up here, and he's my best friend," Axel said with a chuckle as he took a bite of his ice cream, "We haven't known each other for long but you already mean a lot to me, got it memorized?" he then asked with a smirk on his face.

Roxas chuckled and nodded as he leant his head against Axel's shoulder, "Yeah, I think I got it memorized. You mean a lot to me as well, and I am really happy that I moved here and met you," he said with a content sigh as he looked out over Twilight. He wondered if the sunset would be pretty to watch from up here...

And as if Axel could read minds he turned to Roxas with a smile on his face, "You wanna watch the sunset later? It's really awesome from up here!" he happily said as he threw the stick from the ice cream down the tower, secretely hoping it would hit someone in the head, "Unless Cloud doesn't-,"

"Forget Cloud," Roxas quickly said, "I never said when I'd be back so he can't get angry," he said, but he knew that Cloud would get angry since he was in such a pissy mood. But Roxas didn't care about that, he really wanted to watch the sunset with Axel.

Axel snorted at that and raised an eyebrow, he knew as well that Cloud probably would be angry. He had only met the older Strife one time and at that time he had looked ready to strangle Axel. Why? Well, that did only Cloud know. And perhaps Axel had a small, small theory about it as well.

"Axel?" Roxas said after a while, looking up at Axel with big blue eyes, "Have you been with other people before me?" he asked with some interest, not jealousy or something like that.

Axel tensed up a bit as he turned his eyes forward, looking at the amazing view, "There have been some people..." he said and trailed of, "I wont deny that," he then stated with a sigh. But as he had told Zack, Roxas would and should never be compared to the other people in his life.

"I could almost guess that," Roxas said shyly as he looked down at his lap, "I mean... I got like no experience when it comes to any kind of relationship, while you... You seem so secure in a way, while I'm running around without a clue about what to do or how to act..." he murmured and sighed, he felt a little bit pathetic at the moment. Sure he had been together with **him** in his earlier relationship. But that hadn't been a normal relationship at all.

Axel turned his gaze to Roxas and looked at him in surprise, "Roxie, all you need to do is to be yourself, nothing more," he said softly, "Sure, I'm more experienced but that doesn't mean that you're doing things the wrong way, you're just... learning?" he suggested before he leant in and kissed Roxas's temple, "Be yourself, cause I like my Roxas, got it memorized?"

A blush immediately spread over Roxas's face but he nodded and smiled weakly. He was lucky to have met Axel, he really made Roxas feel loved in more ways than one. His earlier boyfriend hadn't really been loving him at all.

"Thanks," Roxas said, "I'm sorry that I'm always freaking out..."

Axel laughed at this and shook his head, "That's a part of you, Rox," he amusedly said as he watched the blonde blush even more than before, that was something he liked about Roxas as well. He could so easily make the young boy blush.

"You make me feel good," Roxas said with a slight smile on his face, "By simply being here, I like that," he then said and looked down to see some kids enter the station.

Axel grinned and ruffled Roxas's hair, "The same goes for you, aren't we the perfect couple?" he asked with a slight laugh as he looked at Roxas.

Roxas snorted, "We're pretty odd, Axel... You're a giant, I'm short. You got red hair, I'm blonde. You have green eyes, I got blue. I'm extremely shy and antisocial, and you're outgoing and talk active. We're like night and day, don't you think?" he suggested with tilted head.

Axel nodded but were still smiling, "But that's what's good about us. Cause night and day need each other, isn't that so? I need my moon and you need your sun," he stated.

This brought a true smile upon Roxas face, this was one of the things that were great about Axel. Sure he goofed around a lot but he had his moments when he said things that really made sense to Roxas. Things that made Roxas really happy to hear.

"Do you know what I think?" Axel then all of a sudden asked and Roxas blinked and shook his head as he looked at the redhead who suddenly looked a lot more excited than earlier, "I think we should spend the night up here! Who knows when we'll be able to do that other wise, we can have dinner, watch stars and then just fall asleep, wouldn't that be awesome?" he asked with wide eyes and excitement. The redhead was for sure impulsive.

It did sound really romantic in Roxas's ears. But was it really safe to sleep on a clock tower? He didn't really want to bring Axel down, but he didn't want Axel to fall down either... But could it be that dangerous? There was actually a railing that would keep them from rolling of so it shouldn't be any problems.

"That sounds nice, but don't you think it might be dangerous, or get cold?" he asked as he looked down. Uh, they'd most definitely die if they fell down. And they would probably have to be identified by DNA since they would be totally splattered on the ground. He shuddered at the thought of spread out limbs and blood all over the place.

Axel shook his head as he helped Roxas to stand up, "It's cool, I've been sleeping up here before. And if we bring a sleeping bag and blankets we wont get cold. I promise you wont regret it, please?" he asked with puppy dog eyes.

Roxas opened his mouth but nothing got out from his mouth, who could resist Axel's puppy dog eyes? And he really wanted to do this as well. It sounded fun and relaxing, "I'd love to," he then said with a wide smile, which made Axel smile even wider.

"Then you better get home for a while and make sure to bring some stuff, and tell your brother some pretty lie," Axel said and laughed, "Cause I think he'd go mad if you told him you were sleeping up at the clock tower with your boyfriend, helping Demyx with an essay would sound a lot better," he said with a slight nod as he opened up the clock tower and headed down the stairs, his fingers intertwined with Roxas's.

Roxas gave a short nod, "Yeah, better not mention you at all, I'll pull the lie about Demyx,"

Down on the ground once more Axel turned to Roxas and grinned widely, "See you here at 6 pm, does that sound good, Rox?" he asked with a wink.

"Yeah, great," Roxas said with a nod as he looked at his boyfriend who leant in to place a kiss on Roxas's nose.

"Be careful!" he called before running of the opposite way, waving before disappearing.

* * *

Roxas sighed as he opened the door and walked in, hesitantly he entered the kitchen where Cloud usually could be found for some strange reason. Maybe because he was addicted to coffee. And luckily enough his brother sat by the table, and he didn't look so pissed off today.

"Hey Cloud," Roxas happily said, without even forcing his happiness out.

Cloud looked up with slight surprise at hearing his brother sounding so happy as he did, "You're already back?" he asked in slight confusion.

Roxas shrugged and gave a nod as he opened up a cupboard, grabbed a glass and filled it with water before sitting down in front of Cloud, "Yeah, some stuff happened so we decided to take a few hours break, then I wondered if I could go and sleep over at Demyx's place? He really needs help with a homework and I want to help him..." he said and trailed of, looking at his brother with puppy dog eyes.

"First of all, what happened?" he asked with slight suspicion.

"You wont believe me... Demyx and Zexion went back to Zexion's place earlier today. And as we were eating breakfast, Axel got a call from Zexion and he told us to come over," Roxas took a pause and drank some water, "Well, apparently Zexion has this small hole in his living room wall... Demyx got in and uh... He got stuck inside the wall," Roxas said with a half smile on his face.

Cloud blinked and looked at Roxas as if he was crazy, "Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief.

Roxas chuckled and scratched his head, "Yeah, so I climbed in and planned to push him out from his side while the others could pull... But I hadn't counted on my claustrophobia to kick in, so Axel had to call Zack who had to saw the wall open," Roxas sheepishly said, "So Zexion isn't so happy by now," he then added.

The older brother just shook his head and took a big sip of his coffee before looking and Roxas again, "So you're saying that you're going to help Demyx with homework?" he asked.

"Yeah," Roxas said with a nod.

"When he has a boyfriend who's capable of doing so?" Cloud then asked with an evil smirk on his face.

"Tt-that's... Uh... Hey!" Roxas stuttered out and frowned as he crossed his arms in a defensive pose.

Cloud sighed with a small amused smirk on his face as he pushed himself up from his chair, "Just say it, you're spending time with Axel, right?" he asked with slight dislike in his voice, "I can see right through you," he added.

Roxas slumped down, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Is he treating you well?" Cloud asked, ignoring Roxas's question.

Roxas raised an eyebrow and nodded, "He's treating me more than well, he's the nicest person I probably ever have known," Roxas said and went into dream mode, "He's so sweet and romantic... And he's always telling me to just be myself, whatever I say or do. That's so nice of him... He really likes me for who I am and he isn't putting any pressure at all on me," he said with a sigh and a goofy smile on his lips.

Roxas was practically in his dream-world. With Axel.

Cloud's face expression immediately softened when he looked at Roxas. His brother looked truly happy, and he had never seen Roxas this happy before. He knew Roxas had had a boyfriend back in Hollow Bastion but they had broken up. Cloud didn't really know why, probably because of their parents death. He could also remember how beaten up Roxas had been one time. And that he stopped talking to people in school and all that. It was then Cloud had decided to take Roxas and move out of town. But he still had no idea what had happened back in Hollow Bastion since Roxas hadn't talked about it.

"You love him, don't you?" Cloud asked with tilted head, looking at Roxas.

Roxas snapped out from his dreamlike state and looked at his older copy, "I-I... I'm not sure yet... I think I do..." he stuttered out with a faint blush on his face, "I know that when I'm with Axel... Everything feels okay. Like nothing is wrong..." he trailed of and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, "He makes me feel loved in so many ways, and he can make me let go of the pain just by being there," he added with a quiet, yet soft, voice.

Cloud sighed as he walked up to Roxas and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry that I've been acting so strict," he said tiredly, "I know you were a lot closer to mom and dad than I was, I guess I just have been trying to protect you like a parent would," he said, still his hand resting on Roxas's shoulder.

"You don't have to be the parent, Cloud, you're my brother," Roxas murmured, "That's enough, you could have stayed here when you got the news about our parents since we barely knew each other. But you came and stayed even though I was in a coma," he said and looked up at Cloud who had quiet a pained look on his face.

"You talk like you wouldn't have blamed me for not coming..." Cloud said as he looked down at his brother.

Roxas sighed and shrugged, "I wouldn't have. I mean, you had a life going on here. You went to school, had good grades, friends and all that stuff. But when you got to know about me being in a coma which I probably wouldn't wake up from, you left all that behind,"

"Roxas..."

"But I'm thankful, Cloud..." Roxas murmured, "I know I haven't really told you that, but I really appreciate that you helped me. And that you got me away from Hollow Bastion," he added and let out a deep sigh.

"You don't have to thank me," Cloud said softly and smiled slightly, "Let's just take it cool, right? You have several hours before you and Axel are going to... do what exactly?" he then asked with tilted head and actually looked more interested than annoyed.

Roxas blushed slightly as Cloud headed up to sit down in front of Roxas again, "This sounds a bit crazy but we're gonna have dinner up at the clock tower and then watch the sunset and the stars, probably sleep there as well... Don't worry, there's railing so we wont fall down and die or something," he quickly added to make sure Cloud would let him go.

Said older brother gave a nod as he looked at Roxas, "Been up there so I know it's safe... So, Axel's suggestion?" he then asked with a small smile on his face.

Roxas snorted and nodded as he got an amused smirk on his face, "He acts all tough and cool but I know that under the surface he's a real softy, and romantic," he said and let out a chuckle, "I guess Axel is making dinner right now..." he then thoughtfully said.

"Axel... cooks?" Cloud asked with wide eyes.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah, he doesn't have any parents either. Axel and his brother were orphaned when he was about 5 years old, his brother was 11. When his brother turned 18 he took Axel and got out from the orphanage, and they ended up here in Twilight," Roxas explained as he thought of his boyfriend who practically had been telling his story with a smile on his face. About how lucky he was... It made Roxas feel quite sad in a way... He could imagine Axel when he was 5 years old, being told that his parents were dead. He must have been really sad that day. Roxas had at least had his parents for longer time than Axel, and he hadn't been forced to live at an orphanage.

"Aha... So he's living with his brother as well?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, his name's Reno... Do you know who he is?" Roxas then asked and Cloud almost dropped his cup when Roxas stated this. Reno? **That **Reno?!

Cloud opened his mouth and then put the cup down, "Don't tell me you're talking about Reno Sinclair..." he said with pleading eyes.

The smaller blonde smiled sheepishly as he looked at his brother who looked kind of miserable. He had no idea why, "Sorry, it's Reno Sinclair," he said and pulled a hand through his messy hair. He and Axel hadn't really had time to make themselves look decent.

"When I was going my 2nd year he was a stand in for our PE teacher..." Cloud explained, "He was so coming on to me. And he fucking groped me," he said with a grimace on his face, "He never did that again though..." he added with a sigh.

A small laugh bubbled up through Roxas's throat before he had time to stop himself, "S-sorry, I just... I met Reno yesterday and I can really imagine that," he choked out, remembering his run in with the older redhead.

A frown worked its way up on Cloud's face as he inspected Roxas, "He didn't try anything, right?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, "He just teased me, Axel would rip his head off if he tried something with me," he said dryly as he drank the last of his water.

"He's protective?" Cloud asked with tilted head.

"Duh," Roxas said and stood up, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter, "He's my boyfriend, of course he's protective. You know when I told you about Riku beating me up?" he then brought up and took a bite of his apple as Cloud nodded.

Roxas sighed lightly, "Zack had to hold him back or else he could have killed Riku. I swear Axel will go into killer mode if Riku as much as picks a hair of my head from now on..." he trailed of and sighed.

When he turned back to look at Cloud he saw a pretty content look on Cloud's face, Roxas narrowed his eyes and looked at Cloud, "What is it?" he suspiciously asked.

"Just relieved to know that I don't have to worry about you all the time if he also does," he said with a sigh and a shrug as he looked at Roxas.

"So you trust him?" Roxas hopefully asked with a look on Cloud.

Said older brother let out a laugh and shook his head, "Not necessarily, he's still a 17 year old **teenager**. Who knows what his hormones could cause him to do," he said and pulled a hand through his hair, carefully, so it wouldn't get messed up.

"I'm a 17 year old teenager as well," Roxas sharply said as he crossed his arms and glared at Cloud.

"All right, all right..." Cloud said with a sigh, "I trust him enough to let you guys date," he then added.

Roxas sighed and turned around again before realizing something, "Uh... I almost forgot! Zack told me to tell you that he's sorry. About Fenrir," Roxas said.

He could clearly see how Cloud twitched slightly at simply hearing the raven haired male's name, or maybe it was Fenrir he twitched at?

"You know, it's a bike, and it's fixed now, right?" Roxas asked and Cloud stiffly nodded, making Roxas roll his eyes and sigh, "You're a stubborn ass, he's sorry. And seriously, Cloud, all he did was accidentally push it to the ground," he said and with a shake of his head left his older, and sour looking, brother by the table.

Cloud sighed as he looked at the empty seat in front of him. Maybe Roxas was right. It wouldn't hurt to show Zack that it was okay. But instead of trying to understand he had been sitting in his house moping about it. Not letting it go, putting blame on Zack, when said teen actually hadn't meant to. Hell, who would dare to do something with Cloud's bike on purpose?

After a few minutes of hesitation Cloud sucked in a deep breath as he took up his cellphone and dealt a number. After hearing signals for about 10 seconds it clicked on the other line.

"Hi, Zack. It's Cloud..."

* * *

Roxas had been spending an hour simply pacing around in his room, looking for various things he'd need up on the clock tower. He had ended up packing some warm clothes, his iPod, plus its speakers in case of Axel wanting to listen to something as well. He brought his notebook as well. Other than that he made sure to have his phone, money and some other minor things which didn't take any space. With a slight sigh he looked at the watch. It wasn't more than 3.45 pm. That meant it was over two hours left, and Roxas missed Axel already. He had had no idea that Axel could be so romantic when he wanted to.

With a sigh Roxas flopped down in front of his laptop and turned it on, he hadn't checked his email for months. And he knew he didn't want to really... Who knew what you could find in your email?

"Msn..." he murmured for himself as he logged onto the messaging program, 2 contacts online.

**2 contact(s) online!**

**Hayner**

**Olette**

Roxas felt himself tense up at seeing those two names on his screen. Why did he even have them as contacts any longer... And well, before Roxas knew it a message popped up. From Hayner of all people. Why had he forgotten to log in with status as offline?

**Hayner says: **Look what we have here. Almost thought you had gone and died, Roxas.

_Olette has joined the conversation._

Roxas shut his eyes for a few seconds and bit his lip as he forced his fingers to move across the typing board. Answering his old friend.

**Roxas says: **In your dreams, I've been busy.

**Hayner says: **Busy screwing around and being slutty? I bet you already have gotten laid.

**Roxas says: **You're believing the rumours he spread about me, if one's a slut it's him. And I don't feel the need to screw around since I'm going steady.

**Olette says: **You are together with someone? Now?

**Roxas says: **Yeah.

**Hayner says: **Well if that isn't slutty.

**Roxas says: **Fuck off. I can't believe that you guys chose to believe some shitty rumours. If you knew the story then you'd fucking get why I had to move.

**Olette says: **What story?

**Roxas says: **It's too late now. You guys made your choice. Whatever I say now isn't going to change anything so why bother telling you when you wont believe me.

**Olette says: **Please, Roxas, what are you talking about?

**Hayner says: **He's probably just trying to make up a good crying story. And you were the one who fuckin abandoned us, remember? Being all distant and crap.

**Roxas says: **Did it ever occur to you that being in a coma for a half year and then waking up to find out that your parents are dead might have had something to do with it?

**Roxas says: **Whatever, I'm leaving. Have plans either way, with someone who CARES.

With that Roxas signed out and shut his laptop. Immediately regretting logging in in the first place. He didn't need to go into some kind of depression right now. He just wanted Axel. To rest against Axel's warm chest. Hear him whisper silly nothings to make him feel safe and warm. To feel Axel's fingers run through his hair to soothe him. He needed Axel's positive thinking first of all. He couldn't wait for the night to come by now.

Roxas let out a miserable sigh as he let himself fall into his bed and stare up into his ceiling. God he wished he just could fade away sometimes.

**A/N: **A bit humor, fluff and angst. All stuff together in the same chapter XD  
I think I have turned Axel into a softy, but he really got a soft spot Roxas, and soon there will be some rage from Axel, cause some stuff about Roxas's past will make Axel a bit angry. Or maybe more than just a bit, and angry Axel is kind of hot X3  
And thank you guys for all reviews, I'm really touched by all reviewers cause it's so fun to see that people actually appreciate what I'm doing, thanks a lot! And I think I have replied to all reviews this time, if I haven't then I deeply apologize!

**Axel: **Yeah, that's right, keep that going, we want reviews! ;3;


	9. Chapter 9

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** Hello there! It's a while ago since I updated now, and I got my reasons. Been busy with school, been away from home and stuff like that! But I've had a great time and now when I finally got some time over I thought it was a great chance to make the 9th chapter and release it. I'm sorry if it's a bit weird or something like that, I might have messed up some of the details... Feel free to point something out in a nice way! I don't go to well with flames, it usually results in me sending something snappy and mean back X'D  
Well, what to say about this chapter? I bring Cloud and Zack back into the picture for a bit. And there's some Reno in there as well. And of course there's Axel and Roxas. I'm thinking about adding some more Reno later. And I must think about that Axel vocabulary, I've forgotten to put it in so many times, but it's gonna make a comeback soon X3  
Uh... Well, sorry for keeping you waiting, now you can finally read the new chapter!

**Thanks: ****Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **keiyoku**, **kelle611**, **MrSpoonLovesYou**, **ChaoticPython**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **The Infamous Me**, **h0n3ybun**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **HarrylovesDraco**, **NarutoXxXLisa**, **ironyofalostkeyword** & **FatFreeBacon**. You guys are awesome for reviewing latest chapter! Thanks a lot!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (**AkuRoku **+ sidepairings), swearing, future lemons, violence and... stuff? o,O

**Disclaimer:** -sigh- I'm really tired of this part... I do not freaking own Kingdom Hearts (BUT I WANT TO! THEN I'D MAKE IT INTO A YAOI GAME!), sadly Square Enix and Disney does...  
**Zack: -pats head- **Aw, don't be sad! Cheer up!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Axel sighed and smiled happily for himself as he walked down Tram Common. He was so looking forward to a night up on the clock tower with Roxas. It all seemed to be too good to actually be true, but he knew it was true. He and Roxas were going to have another night for themselves, and Axel was sure that this was something both of them wouldn't forget for a while.

When Axel reached the second floor and was going to lock up the door he noticed that it was unlocked, with a slight frown he opened up and stepped inside. He immediately spotted Reno's discarded slackers on the floor. Why couldn't Reno at least _try_ to be a little bit more neat? Axel sighed as he kicked the shoes aside and put his own off and made sure that they wouldn't be in the way for him later.

"Reno, you alive?" he called as he walked to the living room... just to find it empty.

"In the kitchen, yo!"

Axel's eyes widened at this statement and he immediately hurried to the kitchen. _'I have to save the kitchen! Reno's a fucking disaster in there! As fast as he simply touches something it will probably explode or be engulfed by flames!' _Axel franticly thought as he rushed into the kitchen, and to his relief Reno was sitting there, drinking some coffee. That was at least something the older one of them could do by himself and Axel thanked God for it.

"So, you and Rox have split up for the day?" Reno asked with a grin on his face, "You didn't try to get into his pants, yo?"

A low growl escaped Axel as his eyes narrowed and he glared at Reno, "We're taking it slow, and we've got more plans for today. I wont be home for the night," he said with a shrug and poured himself a cup of coffee. Even though he wasn't a very big fan of it.

"Huh? You wont?" Reno asked with a raised eyebrow, now interested in what his little brother had planned.

"Nah, I and Roxas are gonna sleep out. The clock tower," Axel said and he couldn't help his goofy smile to slip back onto his face.

Reno chuckled at Axel's stupid face expression, "You for sure like him, I can see that. And he seemed to be a really nice kid. What's his last name by the way?" he then asked with a frown on his face.

Axel just nodded and grinned widely, "I luuurrv my Rox! Uh... His full name is Roxas Strife," he said and looked at Reno, who's eyes had grown to the size of plates, "What is it?"

"Does he got a bro... named Cloud?"

"Yeah, so what?" Axel asked with a frown on his face as he eyed his older brother.

"I groped him when I was PE teacher at Twilight High, yo," Reno said with a nervous laugh, "I can imagine the family dinners in the future, yo, he's gonna strangle me when I meet him next time," he then said and scratched his head.

Axel let out a loud groan as he pulled a hand over his face, "You're unbelievable," he said and looked at Reno in unbelief, "Groping **students**, great Reno, great," he said but couldn't help letting out a laugh. What was he expecting out of his brother any way?

The older redhead just let out a sigh of exasperation, "What should I say, yo? Seem we both have a thing for blue eyed blonde's," he then said with a laugh and took a sip of his coffee.

Axel just looked amused as he watched his older brother, he could simply imagine Reno walking around groping students. Of course just in a teasing way, his brother wouldn't ever force himself on anyone. To be honest... Axel was pretty sure that Reno actually was bottoming in his relationship with Rude. You don't randomly start limping after a date, right?

"True," Axel said and stood up, taking a last slurp of his own coffee but ended up pouring out the rest of the content in the sink. As earlier mentioned he didn't even like it, "Gotta start preparing dinner," he then said with a slight sigh as he opened the refrigerator and checked what he possibly could make.

"Oh, can I help?!" Reno happily asked with a grin on his face, ready to jump up from his chair any second.

Axel slowly turned to face Reno with a blank face expression, "**No. Way. In. Hell.**"

"Aaw, but I'm hungry," Reno whined and looked at Axel with a pout on his face, which only made the younger brother roll his eyes.

"I was gonna make enough for you either way," he said dryly, "I know you'd just mess up, or even worse, destroy the kitchen..."

Reno grinned widely as he leant back in his chair once more, "What would I do without you, Ax?" he asked with a light sigh.

Axel turned from the refrigerator to look at Reno with a serious expression on his face, "It's simple. You'd starve to death without me. And you'd most likely sit in jail," he said with a snort.

"Heey, I'm not that bad, huh? And you wouldn't make it without me, I'm the one who's working here!" Reno said with an amused smirk on his face, "Respect your elders, dear little brother, yo," he then teasingly said.

Axel rolled his eyes as he put some of his food products on the kitchen counter, "Whatever," he muttered with as he tried to tune out his older brother who kept nagging at him about how lucky Axel was to have him around.

And yeah... Axel knew he was lucky to have Reno around. He really loved his older brother even though he didn't usually say so. They both knew it so they didn't have to put it down into words. None of the redheads were good about setting their feelings towards each other into words. For some reason it just seemed to become very awkward when they tried to.

A small smile slipped up on Axel's lips as he listened on a half ear how Reno changed subject and told him about his date with Rude. Heh... If it was something Reno could go all lovey-dovey over it was for certain his current boyfriend. And to think that Axel had thought Reno had been acting silly, who was the one falling hard now, huh?

* * *

Roxas sighed as he dragged his feet against the clock tower. His mood was practically as low as it had been when he had turned off his computer. And a low mood was something that Roxas wasn't in need of, especially not when meeting Axel. Because he knew that Axel was an expert in seeing right through him so if something was bothering Roxas, Axel wouldn't let it go without an explanation.

All of a sudden Roxas was pulled out of his own little world by a shout.

"Roxas!" Axel called from a distance and waved with a grin on his face.

Roxas immediately snapped around to face Axel and just by seeing the happy redhead with some package made Roxas happier than earlier. Maybe it wouldn't turn out so bad even though he was feeling a bit down.

"Hey," Roxas said softly when Axel came up closer to him, and as usual he bent down to place a soft kiss on Roxas's cheek, it was like a little tradition for them. Axel would always do that when they met, and he had practically been doing that since the day they had kissed each other in school after the fight with Riku.

"Ready for the night of your life?" Axel asked, still grinning widely, it was like he wouldn't be able to contain any happiness at all, it just shone out, radiating from him. And thankfully it helped Roxas's mood to lighten up.

"Of course," Roxas said with a chuckle, "I could take some stuff, so the way up wont be so hard," he then suggested at seeing Axel wearing a backpack, and two stuffed plastic bags.

Axel just smiled and handed Roxas the lightest bag, "Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad considering we got to use our hands to get up," he said as they headed for the backside of the station, where they found the ladder that lead halfway up.

The way up was a little bit problematic, but with some help from Axel Roxas managed to get up the last part. It was harder than he thought to just climb with one hand. But soon enough they were up at the clock tower and Roxas settled down while looking at Axel who was packing up stuff for the night. The redhead had insisted on doing the work with blankets, sleeping bags and all that stuff.

"So... Up for food?" Axel asked after a while and flashed Roxas a grin. The smaller teenager let out a chuckle as he pushed himself up from the floor and sat down in front of Axel. Now wasn't the time to ponder over all those old depressing memories. This was his and Axel's time, and nothing was supposed to disturb them.

* * *

"Rox, something bothering you?" Axel asked after a while as he looked up at the reddening sky, feeling Roxas shift slightly on top of him. He had been feeling that something was pretty off since he first met Roxas by the tower. It hadn't been tense or awkward but Roxas had seemed to be a bit bothered by something. But Axel had decided to not say anything about it before their dinner in case of upsetting Roxas.

"..." nothing was coming out from Roxas, just a soft sigh.

"You know, I can see right through you," Axel said half teasingly and ruffled Roxas's hair.

Roxas just sighed again and snuggled up even closer to Axel's chest, "Nothing much really, I just... I went on my computer earlier and Hayner, my ex-best friend, was online. We kinda started fighting cause he said some things and uh... It's not a big deal," he murmured and for the third time sighed. He felt like a small child talking about stuff like this.

"If it's enough to bother you it is a big deal," Axel said with raised eyebrow, "C'mon, what did he say? I wanna counter whatever it was he said," he then added which made Roxas smile.

"Just that he thought I had been busy sleeping around, whoring myself out," Roxas said with an edge to his voice, "And that I was just trying to get attention, and that I was the one who abandoned them... I know it's just loads of bullshit but I can't help getting upset... since he used to be my best friend," he said and shook his head before he yawned.

Axel frowned, "What an asshole," he stated, "You know, I'd like to meet him in person and give him a piece of my mind. I'd enjoy that. Cause you're my Rox and no one messes with my Rox," he then stated, almost proudly.

Roxas let out a chuckle as he crossed his arms over Axel's chest and looked down at the redhead who was acting out the role of mattress for the moment, "Nah, it isn't worth it. He's just jealous that I got something he doesn't have..." he said with a small smirk on his face.

"A tall, hot, steamy, drop dead sexy redhead?" Axel asked with a grin on his face as he let his hands travel the way up along Roxas's back and they ended up resting around his waist.

"... Something along those lines, yeah," Roxas said with a grin on his face, "You're my tall, hot, steamy, drop dead sexy redhead," he said.

Axel smirked as he seductively trailed a finger along Roxas's jaw, "That sounds good in my ears," he murmured, "And you're my cute, gorgeous, hot, adorable blonde," he added, still the smirk on his face.

Roxas let out a soft laugh and then rolled off Axel to instead cuddle up by his right side, "The sun is on its way down," he stated as he looked at the sky which was starting to get a slight red tinge to it, and then sun was slowly but surely making its way down.

"Yeah, that's right," Axel said with a soft sigh as they both looked up at the red tinged sky, "Sunday tomorrow, huh," he then said with a slight laugh, "Man, I have a test on Monday."

Roxas blinked as he looked up at Axel, "Shouldn't you... study?" he asked with slight insurance in his voice.

Axel shrugged and let out a sigh, "I should. But I've never been one to study... I'll take a look on it tomorrow," he said and grimaced.

He had never liked to study. And he hadn't been so fond of school either... But since he had met Roxas he hadn't skipped a single day. And that was something that surprised most teachers. What in world could be the reason for Axel not skipping school any longer? That was one of the many subjects at the teachers' lunch table. And they must have been pretty stupid to not notice his relationship with Roxas yet. But it would probably not take them too long time to notice it.

Roxas sighed slightly but couldn't help smiling. He hadn't known Axel for very long but he had already concluded that the taller teenager didn't like homework or tests at all. But then, which teen did like doing homework...? Well... Roxas did sometimes like to be occupied by school. But Axel was a completely different story.

"All right," Roxas said lightly with his gaze directed at the reddening sky.

"Rox, you know that I love you, right?" Axel all of a sudden asked as he nuzzled Roxas's hair and sucked in a deep breath of his scent.

Roxas blinked and nodded, "Yeah, of course I know that," he softly replied.

Axel chuckled and then smiled as he looked up into the sky with a content expression on his face, it was exactly how he had pictured it. Both of them, all alone at the top of the clock tower, not forced to face a single problem for the moment. It all felt a little bit unreal since Axel actually wasn't really a romantic person. But if all felt natural with Roxas for some strange reason. He had never had this kind of relationship with anyone before Roxas. It had all been more about physical contact, like sex, and not getting to know about each other. He was really lucky to have met Roxas.

"Axel... Do you think we can stay like this forever?" Roxas asked after a while, his gaze was still directed at the setting sun.

Axel blinked and turned his own gaze to blonde, "I doubt we could stay up here forever," he jokingly said with a slight laugh and saw a small pout slipped up on Roxas's face, "But I'd like to stay with you forever," he then added more softly since it had looked like the blonde wanted a more serious answer than the earlier one.

And these words earned Axel one of the brightest smiles he ever had seen on someone's face. And to see it on Roxas's face almost made Axel just wanna melt into a puddle of happiness. Yes you heard me right, Axel wanted to melt. And he felt like squealing, but contained himself since that would just be too uncharacteristic for someone like him.

"I'd like that as well," Roxas said, still with an amazing smile on his face, probably the brightest smile he ever had shown Axel. Or anyone else for that matter, "Thanks, all this means a lot to me, especially since I don't trust easily... But you..." Roxas trailed of and shook his head with a softer smile on his lips, "You have a way to break down my wall," he then said with a sigh.

The redhead tilted his head as he looked at Roxas who was looking at the sky with a content expression on his face. He looked relaxed, more relaxed than Axel had seen him in for a long while. It was nice to see a good change in Roxas's behaviour.

"Of course," Axel murmured, "Like Zack, I got my ways to worm myself in," he said and without warning put his arms around Roxas and pulled him to his chest so he could cuddle him, "It's getting colder, don't want you to end up with a cold," he then stated as he looked into Roxas's deep blue eyes.

Roxas let out a soft chuckle as he folded his arms over Axel's chest, "Yeah... Cloud would hunt you down and skin you alive," he said lightly before a shiver ran down his spine. It really was getting colder. By now it was very evident that summer practically was on it's way to end.

"Hm... Sleeping bag," Axel murmured as he sat up, and pulled Roxas up with him at the same time.

After that he started to rummage through one of his bags and ended up with getting out one of the sleeping bags. He looked at Roxas with a slight smirk on his face, "Don't mind sharing, do you?" he asked with a tiny hint of seduction in his voice.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Nah, as long as you keep your hands outside my pants," he answered lightly with a mild glare at Axel, he had started to be able to counter Axel's perverseness to a certain extent.

Axel sighed deeply and shook his head as he folded out the sleeping bag and unzipped it halfway so they would be able to get in it, "Can't help that my hands wander," he said with another sigh as he finished of by throwing down a big and fluffy pillow, "Well, I suggest we both get inside before it gets colder," he then said and slipped into the sleeping bag and held it open for Roxas who also slipped inside with a roll of his eyes. Axel quickly zipped it shut once Roxas was inside as well.

"See, pretty comfy, right?" he asked with a grin on his face as he wrapped his arms around Roxas.

Said blonde had to admit that it was very comfortable. At least more comfy than he had believed that it would be to sleep on top of a clock tower, "Yeah... I guess it is," he said with a content sigh and then averted his eyes to look at the sky again.

The sun really did move fast because it was practically on its way to become pitch black outside. Some houses still had lights on but Twilight town was other than that in complete silence and serenity. It was a pretty nice and yet mysterious feeling... It was so quiet that you could hear the smallest wind, or the rustle of leaves from the trees that was far away.

"I see a star!" Axel suddenly said with excitement in his voice as he pointed up at the sky, he was acting like a child at some times, but Roxas liked it.

Roxas laughed and shook his head as he looked at Axel's star, "Stupid, that's an air plane!" he said and poked Axel's nose which made Axel squint and look up at the sky again to confirm if it was true. And yeah, Axel's star was indeed moving, and blinking.

"Darn, I could have sworn..." he said and then let out a chuckle, "Sight check, please," he then jokingly said as he rubbed his eyes.

Roxas just chuckled and shook his head as he looked up at the sky once more to see if he could spot any real stars, and not air planes or something like that.

"Axel..." Roxas said after a while and pointed, "That's a star, right?" he then asked softly with tilted head as he looked up at a small shining dot in the sky. Actually Roxas wasn't really used to watching the stars. Hollow Bastion had been pretty polluted so you didn't see the stars very often in that town. And you did not want to stay outside for too long all alone in that town. Unless you wanted to end up being beaten to the ground and robbed.

"Yeah, that's for sure a real star!" Axel happily said with a grin on his face, "At least it isn't something that's moving, huh?" he then said with a chuckle as he looked at the star. He loved stargazing from the clock tower. It just made him drop his everyday problems for a while. But thanks to Roxas he didn't really think of them any longer.

"Do you go up here often?" Roxas asked after a while, as he kept seeing how more and more stars appeared on the sky.

Axel gave a nod, "Yeah, it makes me relax... You know, it's a good way to just let some stuff go..." he said with a sigh as he looked at some stars, immediately spotting one of the star signs. He smiled softly, he had pretty much memorized some of the stars.

"Like what stuff?" Roxas asked softly as he turned his eyes to look at Axel's relaxed face that was illuminated by the moonlight.

The redhead sighed and closed his eyes for a short while, "Stuff that belongs in the past, you should know about haunting pasts, right?" he asked with a glance at Roxas who stiffened slightly and nodded against Axel's chest.

"I... know," Roxas murmured, "I don't like the past..." he then added quietly. And it was true. As soon as he thought back it would only bring him pain. It didn't matter what he was thinking about, the past would find a way to hurt him... Why couldn't things stop hurting?

"Hey... I didn't bring you down, right?" Axel asked in slight worry at feeling Roxas tense up a little bit, but the blonde relaxed slightly and let out a sigh.

"No. The past is just haunting, as you said," Roxas tiredly said, "I wish it could leave me alone," he then tiredly added and shook his head, "But it never does."

Axel pulled a hand over Roxas's back and at the same time pulled the blonde closer to his chest so they were tightly pressed together, "Wanna talk about it? It might get better..."

Roxas let out an empty laugh and shook his head, "I've tried, it never worked... And what is there to say about it? I keep having nightmares about their deaths either way. And sometimes I dream that I'm in that coma again and that I can't wake up..." he said with a sigh.

"How... does it feel to be in a coma?" Axel asked with a slight frown on his face, he had been itching to ask the question but since he didn't want to bring up the subject just randomly he had kept himself from asking anything about it before. He hadn't wanted to make Roxas feel down but now he had his chance to ask.

"It's scary... It felt like I was shut inside a dark room," Roxas explained and shuddered, "I could hear people talking and I could feel when they injected stuff or touched me... Sometimes the pain from all my wounds hurt like hell but I couldn't do more than scream in my own mind," he then said and looked up at Axel, "I've never felt so lonely before... But I guess Cloud made me bear with it since he used to talk to me. I never told him about me actually hearing the stuff he told me while I was in that coma... But it all helped me go through with it all. Even though he simply talked about pointless stuff like his ordinary days... I think he actually told me about Zack at a point. He called him a puppy..." he trailed of and let out a laugh.

Axel smiled lightly at that, "Heh... Zack has a teacher that usually calls him "the puppy" as well, it's quite fun to listen to them," he said with a laugh.

"What teacher?" Roxas asked.

"I don't think you got him in any subject... But his name is Angeal," Axel said with a nod.

Roxas frowned slightly and then gave a nod as well, "I know who it is... He was a stand in at PE one time..." Roxas said and let out a chuckle, "Do they get along?"

"Zack and Angeal? Ha! I'm surprised that Angeal hasn't killed Zack since he have been bugging him since day one they met!" Axel said and laughed loudly, "But deep inside Angeal got a soft spot for Zack, like he's Angeal's own little puppy," he said with a snort.

Roxas let out a chuckle, "What about Zack's family?"

"Hm? They live in Gongaga, a small country town that lies somewhere in the outskirts of Midgar," Axel said with a shrug, "He moved here to get a chance to get a proper education," he then added with a slight smile, "So I guess that's one more reason for Angeal to treat him like a puppy and take care of him... from what I know it's Angeal who makes sure he's still alive on the weekends," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Aw, so the puppy needs surveillance?" Roxas asked with a slight snort.

Axel smirked and shrugged, "I don't really think so, but I think Angeal kind of feels responsible for Zack, even though he's 18," Axel said, "But I think Zack is more mature than he acts... I mean, when he's with your brother he's at another stage..."

Roxas sighed and nodded, "I wonder when Cloud will realize that he actually loves Zack..."

"You think he do?" Axel asked with a surprised face expression.

"He acts a lot more different when Zack is around, and even though I can't say I know Cloud really good I still know some things," Roxas replied with a shrug and then let out a yawn, "I bet... they'll end up... together..." he murmured and felt how his eyelids got heavier.

Axel chuckled at the blond who was getting more and more sleepy for each second that passed, "I'm sure you're right. And you just sleep, looks like you need it," he said softly as he stroke a hand through Roxas's messy hair.

"Mmn... G'night Axel..." Roxas murmured as he snuggled up to Axel's chest for the heat.

"Yeah, good night, love," Axel said softly and was replied with some soft mumbling from Roxas before the blond safely fell asleep in Axel's arms, "I'll be joining you soon..." Axel the murmured before he turned his gaze up to the stars to look at them for a little longer time before deciding to fall asleep.

* * *

"So... Cloud..." Zack said with a grin on his face as he looked at Cloud's slightly troubled face expression, "You called me for exactly what reason?" he then asked with big and innocent eyes. That was exactly one of the reasons behind his nickname, the puppy.

Cloud sighed inwardly as he looked at Zack. He had called the younger man over to apologize to him for acting like such an ass for about a week. He knew that Zack hadn't done that to Fenrir with purpose. And the bike hadn't even gotten any scratches.

"I... I called you because I wanted to say sorry in person," Cloud said with a slight sigh and pulled a hand through his messy hair, something that was a habit of him. Actually it was one of Roxas's habits as well.

Zack blinked and looked at Cloud with a surprised face expression, "What? Say sorry for what exactly?" he asked with a frown on his face as he took a sip of the coffee he had been served.

Cloud sighed once more, "I've been acting like an ass towards you since that Fenrir thing... And that was totally uncalled for since nothing really happened," Cloud tiredly mumbled, "I don't know really... I've just been a bit pissy lately," he said with a sigh, "So that's why I am apologizing, it's just me being an arrogant asshole," he bitterly said with his gaze at the table surface.

Zack let out a soft sigh and shook his head slightly before he got a smile on his face, "It's all right, I don't care about that any longer," he said with a chuckle, "I didn't take it personally when you got upset since I know how lovey-dovey you are when it comes to Fenrir. And I had practically forgotten about that already," he then said as he looked at Cloud.

Cloud blinked in surprise before he looked up at Zack who was smiling at him, not a single trace of anger to be spotted on his beautiful face.

'_Wait... Where did that come from... Beautiful? Well... he __**is **__beautiful... Hey! Cloud, stop thinking like that!' _

Cloud shook his head as he tried to clear his brain from those weird feelings. But somewhere inside he knew that the feelings he felt for Zack was more than friendship. He had always ignored Zack when they both went to school, even though Zack really had been flirting wildly with him... Why? Well, Cloud didn't really know that himself, he had probably been busy trying to work on his attitude. Aka... being an arrogant ass.

"B-but... I had no right to be such an ass," Cloud stuttered out with a faint blush on his face, "I'm sorry, Zack... Things are just a bit rough from time to time..."

Zack tilted his head, "Wanna talk about it?"

Cloud let out a soft laugh and smiled sadly, "Nah, I don't wanna burden anyon-,"

"You know you'd never be a burden to me," Zack seriously said, "Your well being is important to me, you should know that after all these years of me following you around like... I don't know what," he said with a half smile, "So go on and tell uncle Zack, kiddie!"

Cloud couldn't help laughing at Zack, "I'm two years older and you're calling me kiddie?"

"Aw, shut up and tell me what's wrong," Zack said with a roll of his eyes.

The older one of them sighed again and leant back in the chair. He who was 21 years looked more like 25 for the moment. He was strained and tired.

"Everything have been so rough before and now when stuff starts to settle down I... I don't know... I guess I just let everything sink in and it overwhelmed me," Cloud said softly, "I'm not so sure what you know but the day I left I... I went to Hollow Bastion cause my parents died in a car accident and Roxas was stuck in a coma. I couldn't leave him even though we didn't know each other... Things were hard for Roxas when he woke up and school was apparently a pain for him... So we moved back here. And eventually Roxas opened up thanks to your friend, Axel," Cloud explained softly.

Zack gave one of Cloud's hands a sympathetic squeeze, "I knew the basic but... That must have been really hard on you and Roxas..." he said with a sad face expression.

Cloud sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, "Yeah... But Roxas had it worse, he was on very good terms with mom and dad so he really lost his family. Now we know each other but when he woke up and they told him what had happened and that he had been in a coma for such a long time... He was screaming... I'll never forget that... Then something must have happened in school cause all of a sudden he closed up after being beaten up by someone, he never told me what exactly happened though," he said with a sigh.

"I'm sure he'll tell you in time, or maybe he tried to forget now when he got a new start?" Zack suggested with a small smile.

"Yeah... That could be it," Cloud said with a nod and smiled back, "Thanks... I think I needed to just tell someone else about the situation, it has been pretty hard these last years, but it's okay."

Zack just smiled widely, "Any time Cloud, any time. If you wanna talk then just tell me and I'll be there, all right?" he said with a thumb up.

Cloud chuckled and shook his head before looking at the watch, "Hey... Zack... Wanna stay the night over here? It's late." Cloud said with a slight smile on his face.

"Only if it's in your bed," Zack said with a wink.

And to both males surprise Cloud stood up with a sigh and then shrugged, "Sure, if that makes you happy," he said this and just a second later realized what he had said and a blush slowly spread over his cheeks.

Zack soon grinned widely as he stood up beside Cloud and actually snaked an arm around Cloud's waist, "I always knew you liked me as well," he purred which made Cloud blush even harder.

"Sh-shut up, and you'll keep your hands to yourself, hear me?" Cloud said as he tried to hide his face from Zack.

"As you wish," Zack said and without warning kissed Cloud fully on his lips.

A few seconds later he withdrew from Cloud to look back at a beat red chocobohead with open mouth. But well, he hadn't slapped Zack so that couldn't mean that it was totally unwanted, right?

"Well Cloud... You only told me to keep my hands to myself," Zack jokingly said before he grabbed Cloud's arm and strode over through the kitchen and left for Cloud's bedroom, "You only got yourself to blame!"

* * *

"Mmn..."

"Axel...?"

"I dun wanna go to school yet, Reno..."

"Axel!"

"Huwah?" the redhead sleepily replied as he slowly sat up with his eyes all unfocused and he hissed when the bright light hit his eyes, "Gaah!" he let out as he shielded his eyes from the dreadful sun.

A chuckle was heard from beside him and Axel squinted and looked to his right to see Roxas sit there with a small grin on his face, "Roxas..." he said and blinked, "Hmph... Not very nice to wake me up like that..."

Roxas rolled his eyes and leant in to softly kiss Axel who immediately responded by wrapping an arm around Roxas's waist and deepened the kiss. After a while they parted and Axel looked at Roxas with a goofy smile on his face.

Roxas smirked and pulled back a bit more to give both of them some more space, "Well, was that a wakeup call good enough for you, Mr. Sinclair?" he asked with crossed arms and a smug face expression.

"I don't think I'm fully awake yet," Axel said and before Roxas knew it Axel had launched himself at Roxas who yelped when the redhead ended up on top of him in something that turned into a tongue wrestle between the two of them. And somehow Axel ended up winning and as a prize he took his time to explore Roxas mouth.

"Mm..." Roxas let out a soft moan when he felt Axel's hands travel up under his shirt to explore his chest. They hadn't really gone much further than just kissing before so this was another step for them but Roxas didn't really care for the moment.

"This... is what I call a wakeup call," Axel murmured next to Roxas ear before softly biting the lobe of Roxas's ear, making the blonde gasp and shudder in pleasure. Soon he moved on to Roxas's neck instead and started to put feather light kisses before sucking a spot, making Roxas let out another moan.

Roxas flushed and bit his lip, he wasn't really feeling up to going all the way. Especially not on top of a clock tower at this hour... And Roxas almost froze when he thought he felt something hard poke his leg.

Axel immediately shot up from Roxas's neck when he noticed that the blonde had gone tense, he grinned apologetically and scratched his head, "Well, well... Now I'm fully awake in all places possible, great, huh?" he jokingly asked and looked at the blonde who didn't know if he should be laughing or crying.

* * *

**A/N**: Heh, well... Roxas only got himself to blame as well XD  
And I thought it was time for Zack to make his move towards Cloud, and you'll see where it will head soon! Hm, seem the Strife brothers fall for people with spiky hair XD  
I don't know when next update will be since I haven't started on next chapter, but I'll do my best to finish it as soon as possible! And I'm also going to start a 100 themes thingy, with just short AkuRoku stories ;D It's something I'm doing to get my writing up everytime I feel uninspirated.  
So, please review, it makes me happy 8D

**Zack: **Yes! Please review! -**puppy dog eyes**- I am getting closer and closer to Cloud, don't ruin my chances!


	10. Chapter 10

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** WOHO! Hehe, I reached 100 reviews on my latest chapter, that made me really happy. Especially since I reached so many in such a short time. Thanks for all your support, for me it's really important to make sure that you guys gets to know that it's appreciated. Thanks for keeping my writing spirit up :D  
And well, well, well! What do we got here? Chapter 10! I think this story is coming along pretty fine! I'm just having a silent war with myself about the plot I had planned out... I have no idea how long this story will get or how it will end... And I'm deeply sorry for the long delay but I've been feeling down for a while and figured I just should keep my writing on a hold until it passed. And now I'm feeling a bit better so I could at least finish this chapter.

**Thanks to: ****Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **Ania24**, **keiyoku**, **What About Today**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **kelle611**, **Viira**, **The Infamous Me**, **Ally Montgomery**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **May All Your Bacon Burn**, **Delayed-Reaction**, **NarutoXxXLisa**, **LightOne**, **x3loujuriax3**, **Ren13013**, **h0n3ybun**, **HarrylovesDraco** & **Schizzar**. Thank you all for reviewing last chapter!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (**AkuRoku **+ sidepairings like ZackCloud and Zemyx), swearing, future lemons, violence and... stuff? o,O

**Disclaimer: **-sigh- Do I have to? T.T  
**_Zexion:_** Yes, cause you do **not** own Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts. FF and KH are property of Square Enix, and Disney (when it comes to KH).

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"Aw... Roxas..." Axel said with a pout on his face, "I couldn't help it!" he then said, almost with desperation as Roxas just looked another way, with a blush covering his cheeks.

Just a few minutes ago they had been very busy making out and touching each other in an extremely intimate way. And well... It had all been fine until a certain part of Axel had decided to wake up and poke Roxas. Who wasn't very impressed by Axel's reaction...

"You know, it's a natural reaction!" Axel tried to say, he had a pillow in his lap to cover up his problem, "It just proves that I'm a perfectly healthy young man, with a... uh... sex drive!" he said with a smile of uncertainty on his face, not sure how Roxas would react.

Roxas actually turned his face to look at Axel who was looking back at Roxas with a slight look of shame and embarrassment on his face, he even had a very, I repeat, **VERY **faint blush over his face.

"...I know," Roxas said with a sigh as he met Axel's eyes, "I'm not angry at you, I'm just... not ready for **that** yet, I guess I freaked out a bit too much..." he trailed of and smiled sheepishly.

Axel let out a sigh of relief as he ran a hand trough his hair, "Well, after what you've been through I don't really blame you for freaking out on me," he said with another sigh, "But ya know... I wouldn't do anything against your will, got it memorized?" he then asked with a grin on his face as he tried to forget his painfully hard problem.

Roxas tilted his head and looked at Axel. This was why he had fallen in love with Axel so fast. He had been caring for Roxas since the day they met. And he seemed to always put Roxas before everything else. The blonde smiled, he considered himself really lucky.

"I know you wouldn't..." Roxas said and trailed of, aware of Axel covering up his problem with a pillow, "Uh... That can't be very... comfortable, right?" he then awkwardly asked and Axel let out a laugh.

"Nah, I could use a cold shower but it will pass," he said lightly and shrugged, "Hopefully..." he then added with a chuckle.

Roxas blushed slightly. Of course he had had a hard-on before as well. He might seem innocent and all that but he was a teenager after all. And who hadn't woken up after a wet dream with that painful hard-on? Either you could let it go away the painful way, or just do it yourself. But Roxas wasn't about to suggest that Axel would masturbate in front of him... Cause even though Roxas might say it in a joking way, Axel could very well do it.

"Uh... Sorry?" Roxas said with an embarrassed smile on his face, "I guess I was a bit... Uh... You know..."

Axel just laughed and shook his head, "You should stop saying that you're sorry all the time, Rox," he said with a smirk on his face before clearing his throat and pushing himself up, "And... I really have this urge to get home and get a shower," he said with a chuckle, "I hope that's all right with you," he then said with a wink.

Roxas, who still was blushing, nodded as he pushed himself up as well and started to help Axel pack all the stuff down again. Actually Roxas insisted to make most of the work since Axel was struggling a bit with his problem. It was apparently hard for him to both cover it up and pack.

"Uh... Should you or I go first?" Roxas asked with tilted head as he looked at Axel who still had the pillow in front of his crotch.

"Er... Doesn't really matter," he said with a slight smile.

Roxas shrugged as he headed for the door, "I'll go first then... And I can get up once more and get the other things once I've gotten this stuff down," he said as he grabbed a bag and put the backpack on, "So you... don't have to worry about that," he said and with that they headed out and down the stairs to reach the ladder that was going to lead them down to the ground.

Roxas sighed as he climbed down, only being able to use one hand. It took some work but he managed to get down... it had been a lot easier to get up than down.

Once down he let out a sigh of relief and then waited for Axel to get down, he could see that the redhead had a quite pained face expression... He felt quite bad for Axel now. It was kind of Roxas's fault as well...

"Hey, you okay?" Roxas asked with a frown on his face as he looked at Axel.

Axel gave him a thumb up, "All fine and dandy, just gimme a minute..." he said with slight strained voice, "You go on and get the other stuff and then we'll just leave," he then said with a nod.

Roxas put the backpack and the bag on the ground before climbing up the ladder again, and then walking up the short staircase which took him out to the tower again.

Roxas sighed as he walked up to the railing and then looked down, he couldn't help a chuckle to escape his lips when he spotted Axel who was crouching down, the pillow still firmly placed between his legs. Then all of a sudden a blush crept up on his face. He had just realized that it actually was him, as in Roxas, who had caused Axel to get hard in the first place.

"Does he... really find me that... attractive?" Roxas murmured for himself as he grabbed the last bag and then he sighed once more, feeling a little bit down.

_'What if he only sees me as a good opportunity to get laid?'_

Roxas shook his head wildly at the thought that had passed through his head. **No.** He wasn't going to even consider Axel being such a person like... **him**. His ex had only had one thing in mind even though he hadn't touched Roxas until after his parents death...

"Stop thinking," Roxas told himself as he walked down the stairs and then concentrated on climbing down the ladder once more.

"Rox, you okay?" Axel asked with a hint of worry in his voice, "It took some time..." he then added as he looked at the blonde.

"Oh no, I'm fine," Roxas answered with a smile on his face as he looked at Axel who looked a little bit less bothered now than earlier, "The view just got me caught for a while," he then added and flashed Axel another smile. The redhead didn't have to know about every single thought that drifted around in his head.

Axel looked all over Roxas, still with that suspicious look on his face but he let out a slight sigh after a while and then pushed himself up from the ground and stood up, this time he actually held the pillow at his side, had the backpack on his back and held the bag in his other hand.

"So... I guess we're parting already," Axel said with a half smile on his face, "Since we go separate ways from here," he added as he took a step closer to Roxas and looked down at the shorter one.

Roxas gave a slight nod and then frowned, "Why do you have to be so damn tall?" he asked out of the blue as he looked up at Axel who at least was a head longer than him.

Axel let out a chuckle and ruffled Roxas's hair, "You're the one who's shorter than average," he said with a smirk on his face, "But I like you the way you are," he then purred before Roxas had any time to complain about the short remark.

"I guess that's fine..." Roxas said with a sigh and then looked at Axel again, "Good bye kiss?" he then asked with tilted head. Even though Roxas had been a little bit afraid of PDA in the start it didn't really bother him any longer since Axel was such an affectionate person by nature. And by constantly being with Demyx he had been forced to withstand getting hugged all the time.

Axel grinned widely and leant down to capture Roxas's lips in a chaste kiss, "See you tomorrow, right?" he whispered, barely millimetres from Roxas's face, the blonde could feel Axel's hot breath against his skin.

Roxas dumbly nodded, "Yeah... tomorrow..." he breathlessly said as Axel flashed him a grin, gave him a peck on his cheek to the next second be walking down the road, against his home... leaving Roxas standing there, blinking with a stupid face expression.

"What the...?" Roxas muttered, "Argh... Just get your ass moving..." he then told himself with a sigh as he started heading home as well.

* * *

"Cloud?" Roxas called as he opened the door and kicked his shoes off, usually he would get a reply immediately but this time he got no reply at all, even thought the older brother's shoes were standing at their usual place... along with another pair of shoes, "Cloud?!" Roxas called a bit louder as he got his jacket off and dropped his bag by his shoes and then slowly walked into the kitchen to just find it empty.

Roxas frowned as he looked around himself, the dishes weren't cleaned, "What the hell is wrong, Cloud?" he asked under his breath with slight worry as he walked out of the kitchen and with some uncertainty went for Cloud's bedroom.

He took a deep breath before he reached out to the handle and slowly pulled down and opened the door. Well... let's just say that Roxas hadn't expected to see what he saw. Not this soon at least. A blush worked its way up on Roxas's face as he stood there and stared at the sight in front of him.

Cloud, Roxas's asexual and antisocial brother, was lying in his own bed... with Zack. Yes, Cloud was sharing his bed with Zachary Fair. And it didn't exactly look innocent since Cloud was snuggled up to Zack's chest and said raven haired male had his arms wrapped around Cloud, and he had a content smile on his face.

"Don't tell me they..." Roxas whispered under his breath but trailed of, "...Shit," he then added and carefully backed out and closed the door behind him to hurry up to his room.

What was happening to the world? Sure Roxas had talked to Axel about how he had been thinking that Cloud was in love with Zack but Roxas had never ever thought that he would get home to find the two of them together in bed, shirtless. He had even been surprised if he had seen the two of them doing something normal, like watching a movie. He prayed to God that the two older males weren't completely naked in bed...

Roxas shook his head as he picked up his phone and started typing.

**Axel, you can't believe what I found when I got home...**

With a push on a button the message was sent and Roxas let himself sink down on his bet and let out a deep breath he had been holding in for a while. And Axel, being the fast writer he was, sent him an answer in less than 20 seconds.

**What did u find when u got home??**

Roxas sighed as he started typing again... Axel and his damn typing language...

**Cloud and Zack are together. In Cloud's bed. All snuggled up to each other.**

Roxas put down his phone and let out a quiet groan. This meant that there would be a hell a lot more of Zack around his house. Don't get me wrong... Roxas did like Zack, but the hyper raven haired man was just a little bit too much for him sometimes. Especially since he liked getting on Roxas's nerves. Soon another vibration was heard from his phone.

**WHA?! r u serious?! Holy mother of all that's holy... that's really, i repeat, REALLY, freaking me out! Talk 'bout fast development!**

Roxas sighed as he looked at his phone and then a smirk crept up on his face.

**Fast development? Please, they've known each other for longer than us, and we're together, right? And how's your problem going? You looked quite tormented for a while.**

Roxas sighed as his thoughts drifted back to Axel and what had happened earlier... He had for sure overreacted. Actually it was like Axel had said, a normal reaction. Roxas just hadn't been expecting it... and it had brought some bad memories up as well. He let out a sigh as h stood up and headed up to his desk where he grabbed a photography, he heard his phone vibrate but figured Axel could wait a while so he turned his attention to the photo again.

It was a 13 year old Roxas, with the brightest smile ever on his face, along with a blonde woman, also she had a brilliant and beautiful smile. It was clear that Roxas had gotten his looks from his mother... But well, his father had been very handsome as well. Roxas was just more... pretty. Like his mom had been. She had always been so young, vibrant and lively. When someone had been feeling down she was the right person to cheer them up again.

"I wish you were here..." Roxas whispered as he ran his fingers over the glass that protected the memory of his dead parents, "I miss you so much, mom," he then said with choked voice as he felt himself start to tremble, tears burning behind his eyes.

Not much time later the tears ran freely down his cheeks as he quietly sobbed over the picture. Why did they have to die? Why them of all people in the world? They hadn't done anything to deserve death, not in the cruel way they had died... People had told Roxas that they had died immediately. But the doctors had no clue that Roxas had heard stuff they said when he was in the coma. How the doctor had told the nurses that the mother had been in such agony before she finally died. Apparently she had gotten a scrap of metal right through her chest... His father had broken his neck, and had probably passed away right on spot.

A vibrating tone made Roxas look up and with shaking hands grab his phone, what was weird was that it didn't stop vibrating... Someone was calling him, such great timing.

Roxas let out another sob as he looked at the display. Of course it was Axel, probably because Roxas hadn't answered his text message yet... And if Roxas wouldn't pick up Axel would just keep calling, and eventually he would end up on his doorstep.

"H-hello?" Roxas answered with slight shaky voice as he tried to keep his sniffling down, which was hard since once Roxas started crying he usually had a hard time stopping, cause he didn't usually cry a lot, "..Axel?" he then asked with small voice.

"**Roxas? You all right? Wait... are you... are you crying?" **Axel's worried voice could be heard from the other side of the phone, **"Oh God... Is it about what happened earlier? Roxas, talk to me?"**

Roxas choked back another sob as he shook his head but realized that Axel couldn't see that, "I-I'm sorry... N-no, it isn't about earlier... I'm fine, don't w-worry about me, Axel," Roxas weakly said as he wiped away tears that immediately were replaced by new ones.

"**Hell, you aren't fine, I'm going to come and-,"**

"No!" Roxas said with surprisingly strong voice, then he swallowed and took a shaky breath, "Concentrate on your studying instead of me for once... I'll b-be fine, this is something that happens sometimes, it got nothing to do with earlier..." he practically whispered into the phone and closed his eyes, "I-... I just need to pull myself together, kay?" he then mumbled as he wiped away a new set of tears.

"**I'm not sure, Rox..." **Axel said, and he still sounded worried about Roxas, **"Are you really sure you're fine? Otherwise just say the word and I'll be there," **he softly said.

"I swear, I'm gonna be fine, Axel, thanks for worrying though..." Roxas mumbled into the phone with closed eyes, trying to hold back more tears without success, "I think I need some more sleep..."

"**Right... But we'll see each other tomorrow, right?" **he then asked and before Roxas could say anything Axel started talking, **"And get some rest, Rox, and just call if you want something, right?"**

Roxas nodded before he answered, "Yeah..."

"**I love you,"**

"Love you too... Bye," Roxas said softly before he hang up and then let out a shaky breath and looked down at his lap. He was such an emotional wreck from time to time.

Without any warning Roxas's door suddenly opened up, making the crying blond yelp and turn in surprise to look at Zack with wide eyes. The raven haired male was standing in his doorway with a surprised face expression.

"Well I thought I heard somethin-... Roxas? Are you all right? Should I tell Cloud that yo-,"

"Z-Zack! N-no, don't say anything to Cloud, I'm fine, it's nothing at all, I swear!" Roxas hurriedly said as he wiped away his tears and looked at Zack with a pleading face expression, "Just... No, he worries too much about me, just... no..."

Zack gave a slight nod but looked at Roxas with worry written across his face, "Want to talk about it?" he asked.

Roxas shook his head with a sad smile on his face, looking at the picture in his hands... The glass had small stains from the tears, "What is there to talk about?" he asked quietly with his eyes on the photo, 'They're dead either way... Nothing can change that...' he added inside his mind.

Zack stepped inside the room and looked down at the photo in Roxas's lap. He didn't have to think twice about whom those persons were. It was a younger Roxas, his mother and his father. There was no doubt about it. Zack sighed and gave Roxas's a pat on his shoulder.

"You miss them," he stated. Zack missed his parents as well... But he couldn't really imagine to get the news about them being dead, that must be something horrible to get to know.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah... of course I do," he murmured as he let his fingers trail over the glass once more, "Zack... I'm really tired. I think I just need to be alone for a bit, go and do something with Cloud, he deserves to do something fun or relaxing," Roxas said, his eyes focused on the photo, refusing to meet Zack's eyes.

"Sure about that?" Zack asked.

"Yeah... just go, I'm fine," Roxas said with a slight sigh and threw a glance at Zack who slowly retreated to the door, "And no, don't call Axel, he already called me," Roxas then added since he had a feeling Zack would have called Axel otherwise.

Zack bit his lower lip and then shrugged, "Sure, sure... I wont. Just... cheer up, Roxas," he said with a weak smile before he closed the door and went down to Cloud.

Roxas sadly sighed as he walked up to his bed and immediately threw himself into it and snuggled up to a pillow, just trying to not keep crying. He had gotten most of the tears to stay away when Zack had been in his room... But that didn't mean he was out of tears yet.

* * *

Roxas sighed as he opened his locker and with slow and somewhat drowsy movements he pulled out a bunch of books that he dumped in his bag before closing the locker once more.

Even though he had been really tired he hadn't been able to sleep for very long during the night. He had been haunted by nightmares the short time he had managed to sleep. But it wasn't anything that was new to Roxas, he always had a hard time sleeping for several days after one of his emotional breakdowns that concerned his parents. He truly hated it but what could he do about it? Nothing.

"Roxas!" a loud squeal was heard that made Roxas's mentally sigh as he prepared himself for the worst that could happen and then turned to face Demyx who immediately pulled Roxas's into a hug, "I haven't seen you since I was stuck into that wall!" he squealed and grinned widely.

Roxas couldn't help letting out a laugh to later shake his head, "It was two days ago," he said lightly and then yawned as Demyx let go of Roxas and inspected him, "What?" Roxas asked with a frown on his face.

"You look tired..." he said with tilted head.

"Who looks tired?" a voice that appeared from nowhere suddenly asked, making Demyx and Roxas's jump into each others arms by surprise, both letting out squeals of fear before noticing that the one who had appeared was no other than Axel, who now was evilly smirking at them.

"Well, well, what do we got here?" he asked and grinned, "Is my boyfriend and my best friend having a secret relationship behind my back?" he teasingly asked as the two blondes immediately pushed each other away, Roxas blushed while Demyx giggled at Roxas's embarrassed face expression.

Axel just smirked as he walked up to Roxas, "But he's right, you look tired," he then murmured with a worried face expression as he brought his hand to Roxas's forehead, "And you're quite warm..."

Roxas sighed as he carefully grabbed Axel's hand and pushed it away from his face, "I'm fine, I just didn't get so much sleep," he said with a shrug and a smile as he stood up on the tips of his toes to place a peck on Axel's cheek.

Axel sighed put bent down to give kiss Roxas's cheek as well, "I'll let it go for now," he said with a slight sigh, but Roxas could practically feel that Axel wanted to know what was wrong. But the redhead would have to wait until after the school day was over. For now they both had to concentrate on school, even though none of them really felt like it.

* * *

The lessons of the day had just been a blurry mess for Roxas who had been thinking about other things during all of his lessons. Leon had even worryingly asked if he was fine. And Vexen had threatened to make Roxas taste some secret potion of his... Which had made Roxas stay quite alert for the rest of chemistry. Art had been slightly better since Axel had tried to cheer Roxas up.

And now, finally, the school day was over. Axel and Roxas had proceeded to find a green field close to school where they had lied down to just relax for a while.

"Roxas?" Axel said hesitantly, glancing at Roxas.

Roxas sighed slightly but looked over at Axel, "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?" he softly asked, "I've been worrying since yesterday and it took damn much willpower to not make me drive over to your place..."

The blonde closed his eyes and let out another sigh, "It's just... memories..." he murmured, "I... I was looking at some pictures and I just cracked when I saw my parents' photo, that's it," he quietly said with a sad look on his face.

Axel sighed as he reached out and grabbed Roxas and pulled him to his chest, "I'm sorry, Rox," he murmured into Roxas's hair, "Life sucks sometimes, right?" he asked softly.

"Mhm..."

"How were they?" Axel then asked all of a sudden, making Roxas look up at him in surprise. He was quite surprised that Axel just asked it like that since he now knew that Roxas easily could break down when thinking about them... But then, Axel could talk about his life without much problems... At least about the things he had told Roxas.

"...My... my mom was the most beautiful and lively person in my life, she was always full of energy and always knew how to cheer someone up," Roxas said softly with a smile on his face, "Dad wasn't home that often, he worked abroad a lot... But he was great as well, he always made his best at making mom happy," he murmured as he got a slight flashback of his parents.

"_Dear, is something wrong?"_

"_O-oh, no, no... Of course not! I'm fine!"_

_  
"Hm, know what?"_

"_Mhm?"_

"_I couldn't help myself for picking this up on the way here..."_

"_What?"_

"_Happy 12th anniversary, love."_

"_It's amazing! I thought you had forgotten! I love it!"_

Roxas sighed and shook his head, "They didn't deserve to die..." he murmured, feeling that heavy lump form in his stomach, "I should have been the one..." he trailed of when he realized he had been talking aloud and that Axel frowned down at him.

"Don't tell me you were gonna say that you should have been the one to die..." he warningly said with a stern look on his face which made Roxas bite his lip.

"I..."

"No," Axel firmly said, with his arms crossed as he shook his head, "No way," he then stated again, not looking at Roxas. He refused to hear his boyfriend say that he was supposed to be dead.

"Axel, if you-,"

"I'm not gonna listen to you saying that you should have died," he said, staring at nothing in particular.

Roxas sighed sadly as he looked down at the ground where he had dug his fingers into the ground. He hated himself...

"I was the one who made mom lose control of the car, Axel!" Roxas then said before Axel had a chance to cut him of again, "I was yelling at her, a-and... the last thing I ever told her was that I hated her," his voice cracked at the end as he turned his face away from Axel.

Axel blinked as he turned his face towards the blonde who now looked another way... Well, this made things a hell a lot different... Not that Axel thought that it was Roxas's fault, it wasn't like he had meant for the accident to happen. But this meant that he had to make Roxas see that it in fact wasn't his fault at all.

"Roxas... All kids say that to their parents sometimes..." Axel murmured, "I... Reno did that, I was too small to get to that stage... But I remember my mom sighing and just shaking her head," he softly said, "Rox, she knew you didn't mean it, I swear she knew," he then added.

"How can you be so sure?" Roxas whispered, still not looking at Axel, "I never talked to her that way and then... why did they die?"

Axel shrugged with a solemn look on his face, "I don't know, Roxas," he answered, "Life's unfair, I don't know why my parents died either... Or well, dad might be alive and if he is I don't give a shit..." he muttered and then was interrupted by his cellphone, "Damn it... Demyx," he said with a sigh, throwing a look at Roxas who looked out into the distance.

"Go, you should spend some time with Demyx as well, you're with me all the time," Roxas said with a small smile on his lips as he looked at Axel, "You have to stay close to your friends as well, you know?" he then said and gave Axel a slight push.

Axel sighed and picked up the phone, "Hey, Dem," he said and smiled, "What? Like... now? Uh... I know I said that-,"

Roxas rolled his eyes and stood up as he grabbed Axel's phone.

"Hi, Demyx, of course Axel will come, exactly like he said he would," he said with a smile on his face, "No, no, no, I think I'll skip, just gonna head home and get some rest, you know?" he asked with a chuckle before smiling again and looking at Axel who was glaring at Roxas, "Yeah, that's right, I'll tell him that, see you," with that he shut the phone and handed it back to Axel.

"10 minutes, at Dem's house," Roxas lightly said with a nod, not a trace of the happiness he had been showing when he had talked to Demyx.

"How is it that you can do that?" Axel all of a sudden asked with a frown on his face.

Roxas tilted his head as he looked at Axel, "What do you mean?" he asked and blinked in confusion.

"That you just can... change like that," he said with a frown on his face, "From sad to happy and then just... drop it," he said.

Roxas sighed and shook his head, "Defence?" he suggested, "It's a wall, but I just... let it slip when I'm with you," he then said softly and sighed, "Well, you go on, Demyx is waiting," he said and gave Axel a half smile.

Axel sighed deeply as he stepped up to Roxas and pulled the blonde to his arms for a short while, "See you tomorrow then," he murmured before giving Roxas a peck and then he did as he had been ordered and started to make his way against Demyx's place. Even though it hurt pretty bad to leave Roxas behind, not sure what the blonde went through for the moment.

* * *

Roxas sighed as he slowly dragged his feet after himself. He was heading home now when he finally had made Axel leave to go and spend some time with Demyx. Roxas was feeling like he was kind of taking Axel all for himself, and he thought it was time for Demyx to get his best friend back even if it meant that Roxas would have to walk around and ponder about his problems since he had nothing to distract him. Or well... that was what Roxas thought, at least.

"Roxas!" a voice called which made Roxas turn around to see Zexion walk a bit behind him, waving at Roxas.

Roxas smiled and waved back as he slowed down to allow Zexion to catch up to him. And soon enough Zexion walked beside Roxas. They leaved pretty close to each other after all, so they could have company with each other.

"Not walking with Axel today?" Zexion asked with a look on Roxas, it was obvious but still, they had to talk about something. And Roxas knew that Zexion wasn't that talk active.

"Nah, he's with Demyx today," Roxas said and smiled, "I practically had to force him to get his ass over to Demyx's house though," he then said with a laugh, "Axel can for sure be stubborn when he wants to be, huh?"

Zexion nodded and gave a half smile as he walked beside Roxas, "Why was he being stubborn this time?" he asked.

Roxas sighed and shrugged, "He's just worrying too much about me, it doesn't matter what I say or do. He keeps worrying," he explained and sighed, but inside he knew that Axel had very good reasons to worry about Roxas. It was just that Zexion and Demyx didn't know about it.

"Did something happen to make him worry?" Zexion asked with a slight frown on his face, apparently he was being suspicious about it. He had known Axel for a lot longer than Roxas...

"Kind of, but nothing serious though..." Roxas murmured, "Just a little incident at wrong place and time," he said and hoped that would be enough of an explanation for Zexion.

Zexion just gave a slight nod in confirmation that he had listened to what Roxas had told him, "Well, once Axel starts worrying there's no end to it," he said with a sigh, "But that's one of his good qualities that show that he cares. And you're the only one who have awakened the overprotective side of Axel," he stated as he glanced at Roxas with his left, uncovered, eye.

Roxas blinked as he looked at Zexion, "Not anyone else?" he asked in surprise. He thought that... Well, Roxas wasn't really sure what he had thought about Axel's earlier relationships since he hadn't asked about it. It had seemed that Axel didn't want to talk about it. Had Axel had many boyfriends/girlfriends before Roxas got into the picture? How had he felt about them? Who where those persons?

"Not anyone else," Zexion repeated with another nod as they took a turn to the right, getting closer to Zexion's house, "That's what surprised us all about you, it was kind of strange to see Axel worry so much about a stranger at first, when he even haven't cared for people he have been into a relationship with. Or if it even can be called that..." Zexion trailed of and shrugged.f

Roxas just nodded as he looked at Zexion, "How long have you known Axel and Demyx?" he then all of a sudden asked which caused Zexion to look at Roxas in surprise, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I was just-,"

"No, it's all right, it was just such a random question that you surprised me," Zexion said with a smirk on his face since he suspected Roxas would have started to blabber really badly if he hadn't cut the blonde of, "I've know Axel for... 6 years soon. Since he moved here. And I've known Demyx for at least 10 years. But we didn't start spending time with each other before 5 years back. I was quite... asocial," he said and licked his lips, "And Demyx..." he trailed of once more and looked at Roxas with an amused face expression.

"Demyx is everything but asocial," Roxas ended Zexion's sentence for him and let out a chuckle, "It's impossible to not talk with Demyx around..."

"Yes, it for sure is..." Zexion said and sighed.

"How's your wall by the way?" Roxas then asked with a raised eyebrow.

The blue haired male flinched slightly before sighing and shaking his head, "Right now I have a bookshelf in front of the giant hole Zack had to make to get you guys out of there. I'll get it fixed though... Eventually," he added with another sigh and adjusted his bangs that covered his right eye.

"Sorry," Roxas said with a sheepish smile as they stopped outside Zexion's house.

"It's all right, it was Demyx that was impossible to get out," Zexion said and smirked, "Well, I guess we'll see each other at lunch and the history lesson tomorrow, at least?" he asked with tilted head.

Roxas nodded and smiled, "Yeah, we will," he said and then gave a slight wave, "See you!" he then said.

Zexion gave a nod and waved as well, "Take care," he said, as if he had seen through Roxas's wall.

Roxas gave a strained smile before turning around and walking against his own house. He was in a pretty pissy mood by now. First of all people kept bothering him and asking him if he was fine since he looked tired. Axel was overly worried about Roxas. And even Zexion seemed to be able to see right through Roxas! Was it too much to ask for a little bit of piece in his life? Roxas had had his ups and downs before, and he had been fine without a bunch of people worrying about him.  
Don't get me wrong, it was nice to know that people cared... But when they was so insistent about making sure he'd be fine it just bugged him.

Roxas sighed as he unlocked the door to his house and stepped inside, he frowned when he realised that Cloud's shoes hadn't left their place on the floor since this morning... Hadn't he said that he had work?

"Cloud?" Roxas called as he kicked of his converse and then walked into the kitchen where Cloud sat with a slight grim face expression on his face, "Is... Is something wrong?" Roxas asked, immediately feeling scared over what it could be that had happened.

"Roxas, we need to go back to Hollow Bastion..."

As if everything else hadn't been bad enough, this was all it took for Roxas to feel that his world, and his life, was about to completely collapse.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay for me, I finally updated! And sorry for giving you guys a cliffhanger, but it was like the only decent way to cut it of the way I did X3  
And once more, sorry for the delay! I'm gonna try to update chapter 11 faster, kay? And holy... This is chapter 10! I have written 10 freaking chapters and it's more than 100 pages long! I feel proud of myself right now :D

**Marluxia: **Pleeeaaase review! ...Where I came from? Well, I guess you just have to wait and find out! -wink-


	11. Chapter 11

**Someone Else's Shadow 11**

**A/N:** Sorry for leaving you hanging at a cliff last time. I'm not usually writing cliffhanger-endings on my chapters, but I had to cut it of there since it was the only decent time for me to cut it of X3  
And yay! Chapter 11, this is officially my longest story I've ever written! It's about 120 pages now, I think! :D And know what? When I'm done with this story I'll make a book of it. And I'll put a fan art pic for each chapter, everything done by me, of course. I was going to just make a copy for myself but I might sell some. Or have a competition and have some people win it... I'm not sure yet!  
And heeey... You're lucky, this chapter is like... the longest chapter so far! I even had to **shorten** it down a bit, cause it was about to become 20 pages long XD A normal chapter is 10-12 pages long. This is Roxas pages long! (Yeah, i'm lame XD)

**Thanks to:** **keiyoku**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **NarutoXxXLisa**, **What About Today**, **HarrylovesDraco**, **Schizzar**, **x3loujuriax3**, **The Infamous Me**, **ChaoticPython**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **Melodious Authoress**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Plain Jane Is A Vampire**, **May All Your Bacon Burn**, **h0n3ybun** & l**ovetheHams**. You guys are all awesome!

**Warnings: **AU (high school fic), boy x boy relationships (**AkuRoku **+ sidepairings like ZackCloud and Zemyx), swearing, future lemons, violence and... pink haired men...

**Disclaimer: **IDONOTOWNKHORFFANDIWILLNEVEROWNTHEM!

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"_**Roxas, we need to go back to Hollow Bastion..."**_

Roxas felt his mouth go dry and how all air escaped his lungs. This was bad. Really bad. It felt like Roxas's whole world was about to collapse by hearing those words.

"Please say that you're joking..." Roxas said with a pleading look in his eyes, he desperately wished for it to not be true, but judging by Cloud's face expression he already knew the truth. He had to go back to the hell he once had been in.

Cloud shook his head and pulled hand through his spiky hair, "It isn't permanently, they need you there on Thursday, so we have to go on Wednesday..." Cloud trailed of, "It will only be until Saturday, we'll go home then," he said, trying to assure Roxas that it would be fine, that they wouldn't have to stay there.

But Roxas didn't look any happier about it, "Why?" he breathlessly asked, just looking at Cloud with an empty face expression, "Why, Cloud?" he then asked, with some desperation in his voice. Damn it, if he was going back to the hell city (yes, for Roxas it was a hell in every single way) he wanted a good reason.

"The doctors need to take some tests, and it's important," Cloud said with a sigh, "We have to, just get it over with," he said with a sympathetic face expression, Cloud wasn't happy with putting Roxas through something like this, but he had no choice, right?

Roxas just gave Cloud a look before numbly turning around and heading out from the kitchen, "I'm gonna do my homework," he said in a slightly odd voice.

"Roxas..." Cloud said with a pleading voice, it was evident that Roxas didn't take this in a good way, "I'm sorry, I got to know it this morning," he said as he saw that Roxas came to a halt.

Roxas bit his lips and closed his eyes for a moment, "I don't blame you, Cloud, I just don't want to go back," he murmured and with that he left Cloud alone in the kitchen, while he himself headed up to his room.

Once Roxas closed the door he sank down to the floor and buried his face in his hands. This just couldn't be happening... Why was everything so intent on happening at the same time? It just made Roxas feel like the unluckiest person alive. It felt like he just could lie down and die, because the way it looked now he wouldn't get any more unlucky. His life was going straight down, towards the pits of hell...

"Why does everything bad happen to me?" he miserably asked nothing in particular as he looked up into the ceiling, "Why?"

It felt kind of hopeless. Knowing how unlucky he could be, Roxas wouldn't be surprised if he ran into his former friends, or even worse... his ex. That would totally make his whole world crash. He couldn't possible stay in the hospital from Thursday to Saturday, right?

With a deep sigh Roxas pushed himself up from the floor and actually did what he had told Cloud he was going to do, the damn homework he had gotten from Vexen. Something about mutated cells and how they could be used in experimentation when it came to cloning. At least it could help him to concentrate on something else than his upcoming "home" trip.

When was life going to give Roxas a break?

Next day Roxas groaned. He had as usual woken up to Cloud's yelling, and it was always such a fantastic way to wake up. Couldn't his brother have mercy on him and let him sleep five more minutes? Roxas needed all the sleep he could get these days, especially when so much kept happening.

"**ROXAS!**" another one of Cloud's yells could be heard, followed by some clattering sounds... he was obviously in the kitchen. Where he usually could be found for some strange reason.

"I'm on my way!" Roxas yelled back in frustration as he kicked away the covers and eventually got up from the bed to meet the chilly floor, it sent shivers up along his spine.

He sighed and swore under his breath as he went up to his closet which he quickly scanned for clothes. With another sigh he grabbed a black oversized hoodie and pulled it over his head. At least it was something he could hide in. And maybe people would notice that he just wanted some time alone. Or in worse case they'd just keep worrying about him. Along with this he just grabbed a pair of black jeans, which he had several pairs of. And of course the eyeliner went on by automatic reflexes... it was a routine.

After all his small morning routines, including making sure his hair was fine, Roxas moved downstairs to the kitchen and was met by a plate with some toast on, along with a cup of hot chocolate placed on the table.

"Shall I give you a ride to school after breakfast?" Cloud asked as Roxas took the plate and sat down by the table.

Roxas blinked as he watched Cloud hurry over to the sink where he started cleaning up plates from the day before, apparently he had had some things on his mind the day before because it wasn't like Cloud to leave plates to clean up for later... He always made sure that stuff were cleaned before going to bed. Roxas felt a little bit guilty by watching Cloud run around in the kitchen, he seemed to be stressed out.

"Cloud, are you okay?" he cautiously asked as he looked at Cloud before taking a bite of one of his toasts.

Cloud turned around and looked at Roxas in slight confusion, "What? Why wouldn't I be okay?" he asked with tilted head and a frown on his face, "I'm just a little bit up in the blue, nothing to worry about," he said with a half smile before turning to the sink again.

"If it's about... Hollow Bastion..." Roxas murmured but trailed of, "You don't have to get worked up about me being worked up," he then said with a sigh as he directed his gaze to the table and ate some more to simply try to concentrate on something else.

The older brother sighed as the dried a plate and put it in a cupboard, "Sorry, I just don't want to make you go back there but we got no choice," he said and sighed.

Roxas frowned, "Why can't you... or I, just say no?" he asked and looked at his older brother who had turned around again, now to face Roxas.

"Because then they'd probably send the social here and if we'd be unlucky they'd take away my custody of you..." he said softly.

"Oh..." Roxas said as he watched Cloud, he then let out another sigh and shook his head, "If it's like that then I guess I have no choice," he murmured.

Cloud shrugged and turned of the tap water before heading over to the table to sit down and drink his usual cup of coffee, "Why is it that you despise Hollow Bastion that much?" he asked with a slight glance on his younger brother.

Roxas tensed up when he heard the question. He could never tell Cloud about the rape and abuse his boyfriend had put him through. None the less of his ex friends and the rumours that had made him an outcast in school. It was all too fresh to tell Cloud about it. And he didn't want to have Cloud worry any more. And knowing Cloud he'd probably want Roxas to report the ex for rape and abuse, and all Roxas wanted was to be as far away as possible from Hollow Bastion, not get pulled into a court with lawyers and more people getting to know what happened.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Roxas murmured as he looked down again, starting to eat the rest of his breakfast so he'd escape answering questions.

Cloud sighed but got the hint and didn't ask any more. He knew that if Roxas didn't want to talk, he wouldn't talk. Cloud had learnt that the hard way when he had been trying to get stuff out of Roxas earlier.

Both brothers finished their breakfast in silence and both were done around the same time.

"Finished?" Cloud asked as Roxas was about to stand up.

"Yeah..." Roxas said with a nod as he looked at Cloud who then simply took his plate and went up to the sink to get the stuff cleaned up before leaving for work, "You don't have to give me a ride, I can walk to school-,"

"Don't be silly, I need to go past your school to get to work either way," Cloud said with a shrug as he turned of the water and dried his hands, "Let's get going," he then lightly said as they walked out to the hall.

Roxas sighed as he followed Cloud and prepared himself for another hell ride on Fenrir. Why couldn't Zack have at least broken the bike a little bit?

* * *

Roxas mentally cringed when he walked into the school, the hood pulled over his head. He just wanted to melt into all of the other people and for one day he just wanted Axel and his friends, now also Roxas's friends, to just not notice him. He could need a day with no one to talk to him while he figured some stuff out.

The blonde frowned when he noticed that Sora was standing by the lockers, alone, with a slight beat down face expression. He also had a bruise on his left cheek which actually worried Roxas. Sure they weren't great friends any longer, even though they had a past... but that didn't stop Roxas from worrying about Sora since he was such a good person. To be honest, Roxas thought Sora was far too nice for his own good.

"Sora?" Roxas questioningly said as he headed up to his own locker.

The brunette immediately jumped at hearing another voice, he turned to look at Roxas with wide eyes before smiling widely, "Ah, hi Roxas!" he said with bright but slightly nervous voice.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked with tilted head as he stuffed some books into his bag from his locker, "That bruise doesn't look so nice..." he then said and trailed of.

"Y-yeah! I'm all fine!" Sora said and chuckled, "You know me, I tripped and fell down the stairs! How clumsy of me, Riku always tell me I'm such a clutz and I guess it's true!" he said with a laugh, "What about you, Roxas?" he then asked with a smile on his face.

Roxas did for sure know that the bruise wasn't from falling down the stairs, and the way Sora said it spoke for itself. Someone had hit Sora and he was pretty sure who it had been. If Roxas was about to throw in a guess he'd say Riku.

"I'm just fine," Roxas said lightly and shrugged, "Just some stuff going on so I'm a little bit stressed," he then added and figured he could tell a partly truthful lie.

Sora smiled slightly, "Okay, what's going on? And... uh... you and Axel... are together?" he then asked with tilted head, "I don't want to be sneaky! It's just that the way you two look like when you're together is so... Wait... Oh no! That makes me sound like a stalker! It's just that I've seen you guys in corridors and lunch, and no, I'm not trying to spy on you guys an-,"

Roxas actually genuinely laughed at Sora's rambling, the brunette was actually quite fun to watch when he was worked up and started to ramble like that... But Roxas figured it was time to put Sora out of his rambling misery.

"Sora, it's all right," he said with another laugh, "I don't think you're stalking us, and yeah, we're together..." he then said softly and closed his locker.

Sora smiled, "You're so lucky, and you two look really cute together," Sora said with a wide smile on his face, "Sorry when I told you to stay away from Axel that time back then..." he then said with a slight blush on his face, he was obviously feeling ashamed over it now.

Roxas couldn't really be mad about Sora for that any longer, "It's okay, I'm not mad about that any longer," he said lightly and smiled at Sora, "I'm just happy that I met Axel and his friends, they're actually very nice people," he then said with a slight nod, "You should say hi to them sometime, I bet Demyx would love you," Roxas then said with a smile on his face, it was always worth a try to get Sora away from his not so good friends.

Sora glanced at the floor and unconsciously rubbed at his bruise, "I don't think Riku would like that..." he mumbled as he bit his lip, "I mean, I'd love to but..." he trailed of with a sad look on his face.

The blonde crossed his arms and looked at Sora, "Sora... You're not going to let Riku control your life, right?" he asked as he inspected Sora who still was biting his lip, trying to come up with something to say or do, "You have to allow yourself to do stuff like meeting new people by yourself, it's nothing wrong with that at all," Roxas then said with softer voice.

"B-but what if..." Sora trailed of again and looked at Roxas with pleading eyes.

"What if Riku don't want to be friends any longer?" Roxas cautiously asked as he looked at Sora who nodded, "Then he isn't a real friend. Friends who base their friendship on control aren't very good friends, right?" he then asked and Sora nodded again, but still looked very uncertain.

"If Riku met a new person you wouldn't stop him from befriending them, right?" he then asked Sora.

The brunette shook his head before looking up at Roxas, "No... I wouldn't," he quietly said.

"So why shouldn't Riku allow you to meet some new people?" Roxas asked with tilted head, but he didn't have time to get an answer before the silver haired brat stepped out from behind a corner with a quite pissed of look on his face. Oh great, could Roxas get any more unlucky?

"Sora, Roxas," Riku said with a cold voice, making Sora yelp and take a yelp back as he looked at Roxas and then at Riku with a quite scared face expression, "So... I overheard some parts of your conversation... You trying to make Sora turn his back on me, Roxas?" he asked with a voice smooth as silk, but his eyes had a very poisonous tint to them as he stepped up to Roxas.

'Ugh... not again...' was a thought running through Roxas's head as he took a small step back but stubbornly glared back at Riku, "No, I was just saying that he should feel free to talk to other people if he wants to," he simply said, not letting himself crumble under Riku's glare. Sora was standing slightly aside, looking as if he wanted to cry.

"And why would he want to do that? Like he'd like to spend time with your kind," he disgustingly spat out as he glared at Roxas who now glared back, if it was someone who could piss him of it was Riku. And he reminded Roxas of his ex in some ways, which only made him despise Riku more.

Roxas clenched his fists as he took a step forward, "What's so wrong and special about my kind?" he asked with an irritated tone to his voice, "What makes you so much better than us?"

The silver haired male almost looked surprised at seeing Roxas speak up to him again, he hadn't expected the blonde to do so since the last time they had gotten into a fight, "It seem you didn't get the message last time we talked," he then said with a half smile on his face, "I better make sure you get it this time!" he then growled and stepped up closer to Roxas but he was shoved away by Sora who got in-between them all of a sudden.

"No! No fighting!" he desperately said from where he stood in front of Roxas with arms spread out wide, "It's wrong to do this, Riku!" he then said with a pleading look on his face.

Riku blinked in shock from being pushed away by Sora so violently, Sora had never gone against him before. Not like this at least. Sora had always followed Riku, listened to him and done whatever he had to do to make Riku happy. So it was a first for Riku to see Sora stand up for someone else.

"Sora, you're standing up for **him**?" Riku asked with wide eyes, staring at Sora, "Have you gone crazy?" he then asked in unbelief.

Sora shook his head violently, "No! It's wrong to just hate people for no reason at all!" Sora exclaimed, "You were never like this before, I want my Riku back!" he then said with a shaking voice as he looked at Riku.

Riku frowned and opened his mouth, "I'm your Riku, I'm as I always have been," he stated with a mild glare at Sora, "What's gotten into you?" he then asked with some anger in his voice.

Sora trembled as he looked at Riku, "You never used to be so mean before!" he almost shrieked as he pointed at Riku, "First you were nice to me and everyone, then you got mean to other people... And now you're even mean to me! I miss the old Riku!" he said and shut his eyes.

Riku just stared at Sora, so did Roxas... He was amazed that Sora had dared to say all those things to Riku since he practically had idolized him earlier. But apparently Sora had reached his limit when it came to accepting the way Riku acted.

"Is that what you think of me, Sora?" Riku asked, with a completely unemotional voice.

Sora nodded as tears trailed down his cheeks, "That's exactly what I'm thinking, I've been thinking that maybe you'd go back to the way you used to be but it seem it just gets worse!" he said and wiped away some tears from his face.

Riku seemed to be getting slight tense and for a while it looked like he was going to hit Sora but he ended up shoving Sora into Roxas and then turning his back on them, walking away, "Don't come crawling back to me, understand that?!" he called with a last angry glance at them before storming of.

Roxas blinked as he looked down at Sora who sat on the floor and openly sobbed all his sorrows out. Apparently this had been bothering Sora for a long time... Was this a good time to repeat that Sora was too nice for his own good?

"Sora..." Roxas said softly as he sat down beside Sora who was crying floods by now, "That was... very brave of you," he said and with some hesitation wrapped his arms around Sora who immediately latched himself on Roxas and cried at his shoulder, sure it soaked the fabric of Roxas's shirt but if anyone knew how it could feel to be betrayed it was Roxas, "It's all right..." he murmured into Sora's ear as he rubbed the brunette's back.

"W-why i-is Ri-Riku like th-that?" Sora stuttered out between sobs, as he kept clinging to Roxas as if he was a life line of some sort.

Roxas shook his head and looked up, "I don't know, Sora, people change more than you can see sometimes..." he then said after a while as he felt how Sora's crying started to subside, "Dry your tears, it will work out in the end, it always does," he said, he for one knew that things worked out. Then there was the question if it would work out good or bad... He could only prey for a good outcome for Sora.

"Hey, Roxas! What's..." Demyx voice was heard from a slight distance but it trailed of, "What's wrong?" he then asked in pure surprise at seeing Roxas hug Sora like that, on the floor.

"Uh..." was all that Roxas let out for the moment when he felt Sora twitch slightly in his arms to quickly wipe his tears and shyly turn his face to look at Demyx, a blush covering his face. Roxas smiled slightly as he started to stand up, pulling Sora up in the process.

"Demyx, this is Sora..." Roxas said and put an arm around Sora's shoulders, to give him some kind of barrier since he was a bit emotional for the moment, "Sora, this is Demyx," he then said and pointed at Demyx who got closer.

Sora shyly looked at Demyx and gave a small wave, still with a blush covering his face, "Hello," he said in a small voice.

Apparently this was all that was needed to make Demyx squeal loudly to then hug Sora and Roxas tightly, "You're so adorable!" Demyx squealed loudly as he hugged the two teenagers. Roxas just groaned at the display of affection while Sora yelped in surprise at being so violently hugged by a stranger...

"Wh-wha?" Sora let out before Demyx released them to grin at them.

"Sorry! I guess I'm affectionate by nature, just ask Roxas! I did that to him all the time!" he happily said.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "You still do that..." he said with a sigh.

Demyx just smiled widely and then looked at Sora, "Well, I'm Demyx, I guess we haven't talked before but it would be nice to befriend you!" he happily said.

The small brunette looked at Demyx with wide eyes, "R-really?" he asked with slight unbelief, "You'd like to be my friend?" he asked with puppy dog eyes that made him even more cute. Roxas couldn't help smiling at that as he backed away to protect himself from another Demyx glomp... just seconds later Sora was glomped by Demyx again.

"Of course!" he squealed, "And I'm sure the others will love you as well!" he then happily said as he let go of Sora again.

"Let's head to the lesson, guys," Roxas said with a strained smile on his face, pulling at Sora and Demyx. This was enough affection for the moment.

* * *

"You sure they'll be okay with it?" Sora worryingly asked as he looked at Roxas.

The two short teenagers with spiky hair were in the cafeteria, just about to walk up to the table to have their lunch. And Roxas had pretty much decided to take Sora in since he now had been ditched, or it was rather Sora that had ditched Riku actually. And now Sora was worrying about Axel and the rest of the guys not accepting him.

"I'm completely sure, you saw Demyx, right?" Roxas asked with a look on Sora who looked really shy again.

"B-but what if the others-,"

Roxas sighed and shook his head, "Sora, you're honestly the nicest person I know, even nicer than Axel actually, but don't tell him that I said so," he said with a slight smile on his face that made Sora smile as well, "So I'm sure they'll be okay with it. Otherwise I'll force a spoon down Axel's throat, and I know he don't want that," he added with a slight laugh which also made Sora laugh.

With that Roxas started walking, holding a tray in his arms. Sora once more looked scared and he was gripping at Roxas arm for dear life. And Roxas knew why, he could see that the people around Riku were glaring at poor Sora who hadn't done anything more than standing up for Roxas. But Riku... He didn't look their way. And that probably hurt Sora more than the glaring, he was being ignored.

"Don't let it get to you," Roxas murmured under his breath, "It will be fine," he then added as he looked at Sora and then headed to Axel's table.

The redhead could easily be spotted and he was looking at Roxas with a quite surprised face expression. And also Zack, Naminé and Zexion sat at the table. And Demyx of course. Sora was looking pretty nervous as they got closer but Roxas just smiled reassuringly to make Sora relax somewhat.

"Hey, guys," Roxas said casually when they reached the table. He put down the tray which contained both his and Sora's food since Roxas had concluded that Sora was to nervous and shaky to carry around a tray with stuff on, "I'm sure you all know who each other are but I don't care, guys, this is Sora," he started with and looked on Sora who nervously was biting his lip and shyly looking up, "And Sora this is, Axel, Naminé, Demyx, Zack and Zexion," he explained, pointing at each one of them.

"And I hope it's okay that I brought Sora here," Roxas then said giving them all a look that said he'd rip someone's head of if someone was against it.

"Yay!" Demyx said brightly as Roxas sat down and mentioned for Sora to sit down between him and Demyx, so he wouldn't end up being left out somehow, "How are you, Sora? You was quiet upset last time I saw you!" he then said with worry in hi voice.

"I-I'm fine, I think..." Sora stuttered out and then smiled with slight uncertainty, "Uh... Th-thanks for letting me... sit here, I guess," he then shyly added.

"No probs," Axel said and smiled, he was smart enough to figure out that something was wrong, "Anyone that Roxas approves of is approved by me," he said and grinned as he reached out his hand to Sora who was looking at the redhead, "Nice to meet you in person, Sora, the name is Axel, got it memorized?"

Sora took Axel's hand and gave it a shake, "Y-yeah, I think I got it," he said with a smile on his face.

"Sorry for being straight forward..." Zack then said with tilted head, "But doesn't this feel like deja vu?" he asked and jabbed his thumb at the preps table, "What's gotten them to glare this time?"

Sora sank down slightly and looked down at the tray while fiddling with the straw to his soda.

"Sora stood up for me when Riku and I were about to get into another fight," Roxas said as he glanced at Sora who looked down on his food, "And well..."

Sora bitterly shook his head and looked back at Riku's table, "And he's being an asshole..." he murmured, surprising Roxas and everyone else, "He... He used to be so nice," he then miserably added, "I don't know what I did wrong, why he... why he grew so mean..."

Roxas sighed as Sora started to look depressed again, "Cheer up, Sora, it isn't your fault that he's mean..." Roxas said and patted Sora's shoulder, "You shouldn't ever think like that," he then added.

"But... I was his best friend! Why didn't I do anything earlier? Before he... before he became such an ass?" he asked as he looked at Roxas.

Said blonde looked at Sora with seriousness, "You had hope, right? You said he wasn't being mean towards you until later," he said and then pointed at Sora's cheek, "And you didn't fall in the stairs, right?" he then asked with a look at Sora who looked slightly ashamed.

"No..." he murmured as he stuffed some fries into his mouth.

"Ouch, doesn't sound like a nice story," Axel said with a grimace as he met Roxas's eyes, "Well, don't worry kid, there's always place for one more at our table!" he then cheerfully said and smiled at Sora, "Just like I said to Roxas when we met him!"

Sora smiled weakly as he looked up Axel, "Thanks you, it's really nice of you," he said softly.

"It's all right," Naminé said with a smile on his face, "You have a sweet personality," she then said with a giggle, making Sora blush, becoming red as a tomato.

Roxas smiled slightly before turning his attention to his food with a sigh. His day of being a loner hadn't even worked for 10 minutes. Instead he had been with Sora. How great. Well, at least his mind had been occupied thanks to it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have to go back to Hollow Bastion. He sighed again as he threw a fry down at the tray again, not being very hungry.

"Roxas?" Axel asked with a frown as he looked at Roxas, "Something bothering you?" he then asked.

Roxas shrugged, "I have to go away tomorrow," he said, not looking at anyone, just messing with his food. He had to tell them, he could just image Axel going into panic if Roxas wouldn't show up without telling him why.

The redhead blinked as he looked at Roxas, "Why? Where?"

"I... I have to get back to Hollow Bastion," he murmured, once more feeling bad about it, "Some yearly check up or something," he said with a sigh.

"Why there?" Sora asked, "And why do you need a check up?" he then asked in confusion.

Roxas looked up at Sora in surprise, "You... You don't know about it..." he trailed of as Sora looked at Roxas in major confusion. Roxas sighed and shook his head.

"A couple of years ago I, mom and dad were in a car crash," Roxas muttered, "They didn't survive, and I was stuck in a coma for half a year... I guess they want to make sure my brain wont cease to function or something," he then said with a shrug.

Axel frowned and reached his hand over to touch Roxas's face, making the blonde look at him, "You don't want to go back, right?" he asked since he was the only one who knew the complete truth of Roxas's past in Hollow Bastion. The others only knew some basics.

The blonde shook his head, "I hate Hollow Bastion, you know I do," he said softly as he looked at Axel who looked worried, "But it will be fine, I'll be back on Sunday... A couple of days wont kill me," he then said with a bothered smile.

"I'm so sorry, Roxas," Sora said with a sad face expression, I had no idea that... that..." he trailed of at the end, looking about as if he was about to cry.

"Oh no! Don't you start crying!" Roxas said in mild panic, the risk was that he might start crying just cause Sora would, "It's contagious! You'll make me cry as well!" he then said and with that Sora bit his lip and gave a slight quivering smile.

"S-sorry, Riku always say I'm too emotional," he said and with a pang realised that he didn't have Riku any longer, "Well... he used to," he then added.

Roxas sighed again and gave Sora a pat, "It's all right,"

Axel sighed as well and then leant back in his chair to look up in the ceiling. He didn't like how things had been going downwards these last days... It felt like nothing could get worse. Or well, he hoped nothing would get worse.

"But what is this?" an unfamiliar voice, to Roxas at least, all of a sudden asked.

Axel almost fell out of his chair at hearing that voice again. Naminé let out a slight yelp while Demyx squealed and Zexion groaned as he let his forehead hit the table. And Zack just laughed at everyone's reactions.

Roxas blinked in surprise as he turned in his seat to look at who this stranger was, and his eyes widened. Behind them stood a pretty tall male. And he had pink hair. Pink as in REALLY pink. He... looked quite feminine... And here Roxas had thought that people couldn't get any more out standing that Axel. He was now proved wrong, very wrong.

"No cheering? No welcoming?" the man asked with a sigh and a shake of his head, "So you forgot about me while I was in Paris for those 4 months, great guys, love you lots as well," he said with evident drama in his voice.

"**MARLUXIA!**" Demyx squealed as he practically jumped out of his chair to glomp the taller male who just laughed and hugged Demyx back, "I missed you soooooo much!" he then whined as he pulled at Marluxia's shirt sleeve.

The guy, now known as Marluxia chuckled and gave Demyx a last hug, and then the others stood up as well. But Roxas and Sora remained sitting.

"Finally you're back!" Naminé said with a smile as she hugged Marluxia, "I've been taking care of your flowers," she then said.

"Great! I knew I could trust you with my flowers!"

Zack was the next one to give Marluxia a hug, "We've been missing you here, **mom**," he said with a grin on his face which made Marluxia roll his eyes and sigh as Zack sat down again.

Zexion just shot Marluxia a slight glare, "Welcome back, unfortunately for you I'm not going to hug you," he dryly said with crossed arms.

Lastly Axel stood up with a wide grin on his face as he stepped up to Marluxia and pulled him into a big hug, "Missed ya, Marly, almost thought you had forgotten us here in Twilight," he said with a chuckle as he let go.

"Aw, I could never do that, I love you all!" Marluxia said with a laugh and then looked at Sora and Roxas who looked quite confused, or well, Sora didn't look that confused actually...

"Well, it seem two more places have been filled out since I left!" he cheerfully said as he looked at Roxas and Sora with a smile on his face, "An unfamiliar face, and a familiar face," he then stated.

Axel grinned as he pointed at Sora at first, "Well, actually he joined in today," he said and Sora gave a small smile and a wave, Marluxia just chuckled, "And Roxas..." he trailed of and then grinned as he walked over to Roxas's side of the table and pulled him up from his seat to later wrap an arm around his waist, "Got here like 2 months ago, and he's my boyfriend!" he said as Roxas blushed slightly since there pretty much everyone in the cafeteria looked at them.

The pinkette opened his mouth in surprise and looked at the two as if they were aliens. But this was followed by a high pitched squeal as he ran over to them and pulled them both into a hug.

"I'm so, so, SO happy for you, Axel!" he squealed as the two other males yelped at the bone crushing hug, "Finally someone you look happy with! And you're just so cute! AW!"

"Marly! You're crushing me, and my boyfriend!" Axel hissed as he tried to squirm away from Marluxia's grip, it eventually worked... Since Marluxia actually let go with a sigh.

"Right, right," he said and shook his head, then he extended his right hand to Roxas who took Marluxia's hand, "Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Marluxia Hana!" he brightly said with a smile on his face.

"Roxas Strife," Roxas replied, with a smile of his own, "Nice to meet you as well, since I haven't heard of you before," he said with a slight glare at Axel who smiled sheepishly.

"And I haven't heard anything about you," Marluxia said with a raised eyebrow, also he looked at Axel who seemed to be very interested in his food all of a sudden, "Axel, dear?" he said with a smirk on his face.

"What is it?" Axel innocently asked as he stuffed a couple of fries into his mouth.

Roxas crossed his arms as he sat down and looked at Axel, "Have you been hiding that you got a friend abroad? And hiding me from him?" he suspiciously asked.

The redhead sighed and rolled his eyes, "I just wanted you guys to meet face to face, okay? That's all there is to it!" he exclaimed as he looked down at his food with a slightly irritated face expression.

The pink haired male sighed and sat down as well, beside Roxas actually, and looked at Axel, "I guess I should have expected that from you," he said with a shrug and then grinned widely as he reached over to Axel's tray and took a handful of fries, "Don't give me that look..." Marluxia then said with a warning voice.

Demyx laughed, "Marly is like a parent!"

Marluxia glanced at Roxas and winked, "Someone have to keep them under control, looks like you've done quite a good job though..." he said with a laugh.

Roxas smiled slightly, "Well, good thing you're back then cause I'll have to leave for a while tomorrow," he said with a half smile.

Axel sighed and shook his head, "You gotta keep in touch with me or I'll go insane," he muttered.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "I'll keep my phone on me all the time, and don't panic every time it takes me 10 minutes to answer your messages, I still can't believe that you always call me when I don't reply fast enough," he sighed and took a bite of his burger.

"Well, I worry, so sue me," he sarcastically said, "And last time I had reasons, right?"

Roxas grew quiet and met Axel's eyes, "...Yeah..." he murmured before eating.

"What's up with all secrecy?" Demyx whined, "Has something happened?" he then asked with a frown on his face.

Roxas smiled slightly and looked at Demyx, "Just some personal stuff, but everything is under control," he said lightly.

"Rox, I'm going to miss you..." Axel then said with seriousness in his voice.

Roxas gave a nod as he looked at Axel who had reached out his hand to the blonde who took it, "I'll miss you too, but I'll make sure to call you every night, all right? And you can call whenever you want to... or well, preferably not when I'm sleeping," he then added with a slight chuckle.

Axel smiled slightly and squeezed Roxas hand, he could pretty much see that Roxas was nervous about going back to his home town, but he was probably hiding it for the others.

"Don't worry, it will be okay," Axel said, "What can happen on a yearly examination?" he asked.

"What?" Marluxia asked with confusion and then it hit everyone that poor Marluxia had no idea about anything for the moment.

Roxas stood up after a while and looked at the watch, "Well, I'll have to take a leave now, we have some things to do at home before going back there," he was practically escaping more talk about his past, "Axel?" he then said with a look at Axel who stood up and walked up to Roxas to pretty much swipe him of his feet to give him a breathtaking kiss, not the usual peck.

Roxas flailed wildly with his arms before hesitantly wrapping his own arms around Axel and actually putting some feeling into the kiss. God, Axel was an amazing kisser.

After a while Axel withdrew from Roxas, "That will maybe make up for all kisses I wont be getting for these upcoming days..." he murmured and then gave Roxas the usual peck, "Whatever you do, be careful baby," he then said and looked into Roxas's eyes.

"Of course I will," Roxas murmured before hugging Axel tightly and then whispering next to his ear, "Please keep an eye on Sora for me," and with that he pulled back and smiled at the others.

"Well, see you guys on Monday," he said and of course was glomped by Demyx, and then he gave Sora a hug as well, the poor brunette needed all the comfort he could get, "Bye!" And with that Roxas left the cafeteria in a hurry.

"What's this about?" Marluxia asked.

Axel sighed and looked as the doors closed, "Roxas was in a car accident a few years ago, his parents died and he got into a coma for six months, and then shit happened in school and stuff," he said with a shrug, "So he don't want to go back there," he then added.

"Oh..." Marluxia said, "Seem I've missed out on quite a lot when I was in France," he then said and looked at Sora with a smile, "And seeing you here is a positive surprise," he said lightly trying to cheer the sad brunette up a little bit.

"Thanks, I guess," Sora said with a weak smile, "I know it must be... weird to have me here since I used to hang out with them," he said with a motion to the other table, "But... I'm really thankful that you let me sit here with you guys," he then murmured.

"Relax, Sora," Axel said, "We've never had any grudges on you, the others on the other hand... No offence but Riku is an asshole according to me," he said with a relaxed shrug.

Sora sadly sighed but nodded. It was for sure going to be a hard time without his usual friends... But it seemed that Roxas's friends were okay with him. So maybe it would be for the better.

Axel sighed as he looked out through the window, he could see Roxas walk away from the school. Several days... and no Roxas. That wasn't going to be any fun at all... How was Axel supposed to make it? Well, at least Marluxia was back. And Roxas had given him the responsibility to make sure Sora would be fine. So he would probably be occupied enough.

He let out another sigh before turning his attention to the others again.

"And what more?" Zack asked, Axel had no idea what they were talking about.

"Xemnas is back in town," Marluxia said, not a trace of happiness in his voice.

Axel's eyes widened as he looked at Marluxia, "**What?!**"

* * *

**A/N:** Well, well, well... Things just keep piling up! And finally Marluxia is in the picture! And I just had to get Sora over, I felt bad for him cause... well the story is much bigger in my head than it's here. You know... It's hard to write everything down cause there's so much to it! And what does this mean? Why did Axel react like he did? Will Roxas be fine in Hollow Bastion?  
Find out in next fabulous chapter of **Someone Else's Shadow**! XD  
(Ha... I just realized that the point with the title is pretty much gone since it was based on my old plot, but I think I know how to get it into the story xD)  
(And yes, I'm lame for letting Marly's last name be Hana, I have no imagination when it comes to names!)

And I think I need a beta... But I want it to be someone I know a bit, and no one wants to D:  
Thanks to **h0n3ybun** for pointing out the "jacked off" part of chapter 10 - runs of to fix- XD

**Xemnas: **-glare- _What?!  
_**Authress: **You were supposed to kindly ask the readers to review but apparently that was too much to hope for...


	12. Chapter 12

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**AN:** Yaaay. I'm sorry for the delay, it took a while for me to write the chapter. And then I had to send it to my beta, and after some complications we managed to get it done! XD  
The only thing that's bugging me about this chapter is that it's shorter than my other chapters... And that's a silly thing to feel bugged about, so I know I'm being stupid for thinking of that X3 Well, I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

**Thanks to:** A special thanks to **Pocket Rainbow, **for beta reading and correcting my mistakes! Thanks a lot :D  
And also thanks to; **KooriTheSneak**, **keiyoku**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **What About Today**, **The Infamous Me**, **h0n3ybun**, **Ren13013**, **Melodious Authoress**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **iheartatem**, **SkyeFlyte**, **Delayed-Reaction**, **NarutoXxXLisa**, **HarrylovesDraco**, **Pocket Rainbow**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **x3loujuriax3**, **Tinuleaf** and **kelle611**. Thanks a lot for reviewing chapter 11!

**Warnings:** AU, boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku, ZekuDemy, ZackCloud...), violence, language... That's all for now, I think? XD

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kindom Hearts, it's property of Square Enix and Disney... even thought Xemnas claim that it belongs to him...

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Demyx sighed as he opened up the door to his place to later shut it behind himself. He grimaced at the smell that met his nose once he breathed in the air. Great, it was one of those weekends all right. He shook his head as he tried to make his way to his room as quietly as possible and unnoticed. He didn't care to take his shoes off, the floor was pretty dirty either way. So what would it matter if he didn't take them of?

Once he stepped inside his room he simply went straight for his closet where he just grabbed some random clothes which he stuffed in a bag. Then without a backwards glance he headed out of his room, locking it before heading towards the door again.

A slight groan was heard from the living room, "Demyx? Is that you?" a tired and raspy voice was heard.

"Heading out!" was all Demyx cared to say before he rushed out of the apartment, leaving the stench of alcohol behind him. He hated it when his parents were drinking. Not that they were mean to him, or hit him. It just made him feel very uncomfortable around them... So he usually escaped, this wasn't the first time he did.

He sighed as he pulled out his cell phone and looked at the display, contemplating who he should call this time. He had been bugging Zexion a lot lately... And Axel was grumpy since Roxas wasn't there. Of course he understood Axel's feelings, he had grown so attached to Roxas that he didn't want the blonde to ever leave him alone. It had been quite interesting to watch Axel and Roxas grow closer, how they acted together. And how they acted when they thought no one was watching.

But Demyx had seen how Axel would hold Roxas's hand, or how he'd softly kiss Roxas, how he'd whisper sweet nothings in Roxas's ear to make the blonde blush or chuckle. Axel could be such a softy when it came to some people. And Roxas was much less sarcastic and cold when he was with Axel. It seemed that Roxas had some kind of wall when he wasn't with Axel. Why? Demyx had no idea. It seemed that Axel was a little bit more into Roxas's life than everyone else.

Demyx frowned as he realized he was still stood at the pavement, staring at his phone. Great way to make yourself look stupid, right? He smiled slightly and scratched his head, he could practically hear Zexion's voice in his head.

"_I know you have a hard time to concentrate, but if you keep spacing out you'll be killed one day," this was followed by a small playful smirk._

Yup, that was something that Zexion would say. With a small chuckle Demyx started to go through his phone book and ended up on Zexion's phone number either way.

_Beep. Beep. Bee-,_

"**Hello, this is Zexion," **Zexion's neutral tone could be heard through the phone.

"Hi Zexion, it's me," Demyx said lightly as he started to walk slowly, "Uh... Is it okay if I kind of stay over at your place tonight?" he then asked and bit his lip. He probably shouldn't have bothered Zexion so much this week... but he couldn't help himself, Zexion was far too cute when he was annoyed.

"**Yeah, that's all right, my parents are away anyway," **he casually said, **"Something special?"** he then asked.

Demyx sighed as he pulled a hand through his hair which was getting messed up by the wind, "Well... They've been drinking again and I just don't feel comfortable being home with them..." he said and trailed of, "And the stench is killing me," he then added with another sigh. This wasn't the first time he fled to his boyfriend.

"**You know you're always welcome, right?"**

"Yeah... I know," Demyx said with a smile on his face.

"**You hungry, Dem?"**

Demyx blinked and licked his lips, "Uh... Maybe a li-,"

"**Then I'll get right on it, see you soon then."**

"Right! I'll hurry!" Demyx said happily with a wide grin on his face as he sped up his pace, "Love you, Zexion!"

"**Love you too, Dem," **Zexion said before Demyx hang up with a content smile playing on his face.

Had Demyx ever mentioned that Zexion was the best boyfriend ever?

* * *

In a neat house, surrounded by flowers, two teenagers were relaxing. Or well... One of them was indeed relaxed. But the other was irritated, frustrated and annoyed. And it practically radiated from him, but that wouldn't affect the other.

"I hate this," Axel muttered under his breath, making Marluxia look at him.

"What?" he asked lightly and patiently awaited an answer.

Axel sighed deeply as he looked up at the pinkette whose lap he currently used as a pillow, while the pinkette read a book. Probably some romance crap (which Marluxia could talk passionately about forever) as usual. He had gone to Paris to see the city of love and passion with his own eyes. And even thought he had felt great about it... his home was with his friends.

"I hate worrying about Roxas, not knowing what's going on with him..." Axel said with a groan, "If I could I would have sneaked off after him..."

Marluxia chuckled and shook his head as he closed the book, "I think you're over thinking it, what can possibly happen that would be so bad?"

"He could run into that abusive rapist bastard again and... Oh..." Axel trailed of when he realized that he had said a little bit too much, "Damn, I wasn't supposed to say that..." he then said as he pulled at his own hair in frustration, "Damn it!"

Marluxia blinked, "He was raped?" he seriously asked and Axel just bit his lip since he already had said too much, "Whatever it is, Axel, I can keep a secret, you know I can," he then added.

And Axel knew it was true. If there was someone he would trust with a secret, it was Marluxia. He had told him so much and Axel knew that whatever he said, Marluxia would keep it a secret and take it with him to the grave. Axel had to admit that he actually trusted Marluxia more that Demyx with these kind of things... Knowing Demyx, he'd probably blurt it out by mistake. Exactly the way Axel had done it right now. So Axel wasn't really any better than Demyx when it came to secrets.

"Yeah..." Axel said with a sigh, "He broke up with his boyfriend after he woke up from his coma, he said that he couldn't handle a relationship when he had so many other things on his mind... But his bastard boyfriend abused Roxas badly and then raped him. And as if that shit wasn't enough he spread rumours about Roxas whoring himself out. And people believed that shit, even his best friends... Can you believe that!? They should have supported him, not turned their backs on him!" Axel said in a frustrated voice and then sighed as he shook his head.

"I get so angry... cause Roxas didn't deserve that shit," he murmured.

Marluxia sighed as he gave Axel's arm a friendly pat, "No one would deserve that, he deserved it as little as you deserved what happened to you-,"

"Marluxia... Please..." Axel pleaded, "Not that, not now... It's enough that Xemnas is in town..."

Marluxia gave a look of disapproval but then shrugged, "Sorry, but it's the truth."

Axel sighed and shut his eyes, "The truth doesn't stop it from hurting though. Roxas... made it all better, he makes me feel whole and so much cleaner than I have ever felt... Sorry Marly, I don't mean you made me feel dirty in any way," he then added jokingly.

Marluxia chuckled as he looked at Axel, "It's cool, I understand what you mean," he answered lightly, "And... Roxas doesn't know that we were together, right?" he then asked.

Axel raised an eyebrow, "How the heck should I have had time to tell him that? He left the day you arrived, stupid," he said with a smirk on his face.

Marluxia rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, "Well, maybe you should do it when he gets back to town, or I could do it..." Marluxia said and trailed off, "Knowing you it would come out the wrong way," he then dryly said.

Axel grinned apologetically, "I'm happy that you're back, you don't plan to run off with someone to Paris just like that again, huh?" he then asked teasingly.

"Nah, it was great in France but I missed all of you guys all the time, and now that I'm back I wouldn't be able to leave you again," Marluxia said and chuckled as he shook his head, "And I can't let Namine take care of my flowers forever," he then said with a sigh.

"You know... I think Demyx was in your garden one time-,"

"WHAT?!"

"Just kidding with ya!" Axel said and chuckled at Marluxia's horrified expression, "Man, that was priceless, Marly," he then smugly said as he looked up with a grin on his face.

"Oh you!" Marluxia said with a slighty irritated voice as he grabbed his book and smacked Axel's face with it.

Axel just laughed and flapped the book away from his face, "You should have seen yourself!" he said and grinned.

Marluxia rolled his eyes but put the book aside, "If Demyx had been in my garden... I'd die."

"It's just flowers, you could plant new ones..." Axel stated with a raised eyebrow.

"They aren't just flowers, Axel!" Marluxia exclaimed, "They're living beings that need to be handled and cared with love. LOVE!"

Axel smiled and let out a last chuckle before nodding, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever makes you happy," he said lightly before pushing himself up from Marluxia's lap and then standing up, stretching, "Well, I think I should head back home. Don't want to find Reno starved to death, heh..." he couldn't help smirking at the thought of a starved Reno, though.

Marluxia smiled and shook his head, "I see," he said and chuckled, "Well if you want to talk about... anything, you know who to call, right?" Marluxia then asked with a warm smile on his face.

Axel nodded as he went to the hall and started to put on his shoes, Marluxia had followed him out there, offering Axel a jacket, "Thanks Marly, you're the best," he stated and gave Marluxia a hug before putting the jacket on.

"I only want what is best for you," Marluxia said with a laugh, "So take care, and say hello to Reno from me!" he then said happily and waved as Axel headed out from his house with a smile on his face and a small wave as well.

"Yeah, I will. Bye!" and with that the door closed and Axel sighed as he pulled on the jacket since the wind was chilly. The weather had definiteley changed quickly. He still remembered the warm summer days when he had first met Roxas. He wanted those warm days back, Axel was a warm person who strongly disliked the cold. He only thanked God his body temperature kept him hot enough. But he wanted Roxas back more than the warm summer days. Ugh... He'd just have to wait for two more days to see his love and it was killing him already.

* * *

At another place, far away, Roxas sat in a waiting room in a hospital. Feeling a very strong urge to throw up. He had hated hospitals since he had woken up from the coma. And to be forced to be in that environment made Roxas shudder. It felt like he was going to have to stay there for months... Like last time. But well, he guessed there wasn't anything to do about it.

"How's it going?" Cloud asked from Roxas's right side, eyeing Roxas with a worried face expression.

"Fine," Roxas simply said, not turning to look at Cloud, "Just fine."

Cloud sighed and shook his head. He should have known that he would get such an answer. But could he really blame Roxas? His younger brother had pretty much been devastated when Cloud had told them that they were going back to Hollow Bastion. And Cloud wasn't a big fan of the city either... It was far too polluted. It reminded him of the slums in Midgar. The city was plain creepy... And his history teacher, Leon, had actually talked about the town on several occasions. And from what he had said it gave Cloud an even darker opinion about the town... Ugh.

"Sure, I get it," Cloud said lightly and looked at the clock. They had now been waiting for what was it? One hour? Something like that. It was Friday afternoon and they had been in the day before. But they hadn't been doing anything to Roxas then. It had just been a lot of paper work with yes or no questions, and that kind of thing. Today on the other hand... they were going to take some blood samples and make a CT on Roxas to make sure everything was allright.

"Weren't they supposed to call us about 20 minutes ago?" Roxas complained as he tapped his foot impatiently. Cloud didn't blame him.

"Yeah... they were," Cloud simply said and shrugged as he looked around himself. He was surprised that a big town like Hollow Bastion had such an unoccupied hospital... There weren't a lot of people in the waiting room. And there didn't seem to be a lot of doctors and nurses running around either.

"Roxas Strife?" a questioning voice was suddenly heard which made Roxas pretty much jump out of his seat to stare at a doctor with really big glasses. Yeah, the glasses were what caught your attention first, "We're very sorry for making you wait but we got a bit caught up, if you'd come with me..." he trailed off and smiled at Roxas who didn't look happy at all.

Cloud stood up as well, "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked and Roxas hastily nodded and threw a glance at Cloud, "All right, then I'll come," he softly said as he gave the doctor a nod. And with that the two of them followed the doctor to a room.

Roxas was very thankful that Cloud would come with him. Roxas wasn't a big fan of shots. Actually, he wasn't a big fan of hospitals. The whiteness and extreme cleanliness scared him for some reason. Everything felt so artificial, so emotionless and cold. For Roxas it felt like he was risking going back into his coma just by being in the hospital. He could almost picture the day he had woken up. Being in panic. It had all happened in this very hospital.

"It's right here," the doctor said, he had actually presented himself the day before... but Roxas hadn't paid enough attention to actually remember his name. Well, the doctor held a door open and Roxas entered, and of course, Cloud as well, "You can sit down and we'll simply start out by taking some blood samples like I told you yesterday," he simply explained as Roxas sat down and looked at the doctor who now was holding a needle.

Roxas simply shut his eyes tightly and tried to think of something else.

"_Aw, is my Roxie-poo scared of a needle? Lemme kiss it all better..."_

Oh yeah. He could hear Axel's voice in his mind. That was so something the redhead would say in such a situation. And it would actually make him feel a lot better... Like the time Riku had beaten him up, and Axel had first used that saying.

"_Would you let me kiss away the pain?"_

Roxas took a shaky breath as he felt the cold needle enter his skin. He just kept thinking of Axel. He had to be brave. What would his boyfriend think if he started crying because of a simple shot? He could be beaten around... But a shot would turn him into a baby.

"And... there! It's over," the doctor said with a slight chuckle as Roxas first opened one eye to make sure it wasn't a cruel joke. When he actually saw that there was no needle to be spotted he let out a sigh of relief and opened his other eye as well.

"Well then, are you ready for the CT?" the doctor then asked cheerfully.

Roxas opened his mouth, "D-did you say CT?" he asked with wide eyes, "The machine you lie in... and go into that... tube... and..."

"The machine that will take x-ray pictures of all of you. If that's the one you're talking about, then yes," the doctor said with a slightly confused expression.

Oh great. Fantastic. Simply amazing, Roxas!

_Life is bent on torturing you, isn't it?_

_'Shut it!'_ Roxas thought as he heard that little taunting voice in the back of his head. It had been quite a while since he had heard it. But it seemed his subconscious had decided to kick in again.

"Roxas, is something wrong?" Cloud asked with a frown on his face.

"O-oh, other than I have this little case of claustrophobia? Not at all!" Roxas said and let out a nervous laugh, "Small spaces isn't my thing!"

The doctor raised an eyebrow as he opened up the door and motioned for Roxas and Cloud to follow out after him, "It will be fine, it won't take long at all," he said and smiled as they headed out from the room.

Roxas followed the doctor with dread. He didn't know what he thought was worst. Shots, or incredibly small spaces? He couldn't help thinking back from when he had gotten into the wall to help Demyx. He had panicked in that small space, so that meant he probably wouldn't appreciate being stuck in the CT-machine.

"Well, it's right in here. Would you mind changing into a hospital gown? You can just go behind the curtain and change," he said and pointed at a curtain in the room.

Roxas sighed and shrugged as he looked at Cloud with a look of total and utter despair before turning around and heading behind the curtain. He let out another frustrated sigh as he slowly pulled his hoodie over his head. It messed up his spiky hair a bit but it didn't matter. After the hoodie he pulled off his t-shirt. He shivered as his skin was met by cold hospital air. Yes. Hospital air was a completely different thing from normal air, according to Roxas at least. He disliked the hospital air, it felt colder for some reason.

He struggled with the belt buckle for a while but soon he was out of his tight jeans as well. Leaving him in his underwear. His very sexy underwear. They were clear blue with small green frogs all over them. Axel had seen them once... and he had cracked up in a laughing fit. Roxas had then told him that he was never to see him in underwear again. Of course, Axel had begged for forgiveness after that.

After a few moments of hesitation he left his boxers on, he didn't feel up to being completely naked under the hospital gown. He felt uncomfortable enough in them with his underwear on. With another sigh, yes, he was sighing a lot lately, he headed out from the curtains and crossed his arms as he looked at the CT, then at the doctor and then at Cloud.

_'I wonder what they would do if I simply ran away?' _Roxas thought but shook his head slightly after the thought had drifted through his head. He couldn't. This was necessary for making sure he was okay.

"Are you ready?"

Roxas just nodded. Even though he wasn't ready at all. He would **never **be ready to go into such a small space by his free will. Going after Demyx had been an exception.

"Please lie down, if you can't stand it, just say it and we'll let you out, all right?" he said as Roxas sat down on the cold examination table to then lie down. He nodded as he bit his lip in nervousness.

It felt like he was going to throw up as soon as he felt that he was moved into the tube, slowly. It was actually too slow. And damn it was bright in there. Roxas had to close his eyes.

"We'll begin this now," the doctor's voice came from a speaker.

And next? Well... Roxas didn't have to worry about what happened next. Because the moment the machine started the CT... Roxas blacked out.

* * *

Axel sighed as he cleared the table from when he and Reno had eaten.

"Ah, great as usual, thank ya for the food, yo," Reno said with a grin as he watched his little brother who simply grunted in reply. Reno couldn't help frowning, Axel had been acting grumpy for some days, "Hey, Ax, when did ya get that stick up your ass?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Axel turned around to look at Reno with a surprised face expression, "What the?"

Reno sighed and rolled his eyes, "Face it, bro, you've been a real bitch these days," Reno stated with crossed arms, "What's bugging ya? You haven't even talked to me!" he exclaimed.

Axel sighed as he put the now clean plates in a cupboard to then look at Reno who was looking quite worried.

"I... Sorry..." he muttered as he pulled a hand through his hair, "I'm pathetic, really," he then said with a weak chuckle as he sat down in front of Reno.

"What's going on, yo?" Reno asked softly, something was clearly not right with Axel, and he wanted to know what it was that bothered his brother, "You know you can tell me anything," he then added.

"It's nothing," Axel said with another sigh, "It's just that Roxas isn't in town and I... I miss him!" he exclaimed as he flailed with his arms.

"Huh?"

"He had to go back to Hollow Bastion for a medical examination, he left on Wednesday and is coming back on Sunday..." he muttered, "And that's why I'm pathetic! I can't go a single day without him!"

Reno smiled softly and then let out a chuckle, "That isn't pathetic, Ax, it just shows how much you love him, yo," he said, "You know, you should see me at work those days when Rude is out on other missions," he said and laughed, "Tseng could kill me, yo."

Axel raised an eyebrow, "How come?"

"Cause I keep flailing around, I get tipsy and bitchy," Reno said with a grin on his face, "Like you, bro," he then added with a wink.

Said younger redhead rolled his eyes, "I don't flail..." he said and then trailed of with a sigh.

"What more?"

"What do you mean?" Axel asked with a frown on his face.

"What more is bothering you?" Reno asked, "All this bitchiness cause of Roxie? Nah, I don't buy that," he then said with a shrug.

Axel groaned and let his head fall to the table with a thump, "You see right through me, right?" he tiredly asked and Reno just snorted and nodded, "Well... Marluxia said that Xemnas is back in town..."

Reno's eyes widened, "Marly said that Xemmy is back? Whoa! Wait a minute, rewind that, yo!" Reno rambled up in confusion, "Marluxia is back from Paris? And Xemnas is back from... wherever the fuck he's been?" he asked in shock.

Axel silently nodded and closed his eyes, "Marly saw him at the airport," he softly said, "I... to be honest, Reno, I'm freaking scared," he then seriously said and swallowed, not looking at his brother.

Reno sighed deeply and grimaced, "Fuck, I didn't think the bastard would set foot in this town again," he muttered, "Axel, trust me, he is not going to be able to do anything to you or your friends... I'll rip his freaking balls off, you'll just have to say the word and I'll do it," he stated with a nod.

The younger brother actually laughed out loud at this, "Thank you, Reno, that made me feel better... And I know I shouldn't be worried but I can't help it. He screwed up so much last time..." he then said with a sigh and pushed himself up from the chair.

"Yeah..." Reno said with a nod, "So, what're you gonna do?" he asked as he looked at the now standing Axel.

"Gonna give Roxas a call, maybe that will cheer me up a bit," he said with a small smile on his face, "God, I can't wait until Sunday!" he then said and threw his head back.

Reno laughed again, "Well better make time move then, yo," he said with a grin on his face, "After that call... You and me, in the couch... **MOVIE MARATHOON**!" he shouted and fisted the air.

Axel laughed and nodded, "Start picking out movies then, and there's snacks in the cupboard to the left!" he said with a grin before he disappeared into his room to make his call.

* * *

Ugh... His eyes felt so God damned heavy. What the heck had happened to him? The last thing he could remember was a faint feeling of panic... And then it was all black. Why did he remember darkness? Why... Ah damn, he was confused. With some straining movements he decided to open his eyes, and he regretted it as soon as he had opened them. The bright light made him immediately shut his eyes and moan. But he took a deep breath which made him realize that he had something over his mouth.

"Roxas?" a questioning and worried voice asked.

Roxas groaned and brought a hand to his face as he did a second try at opening his eyes, this time he saw Cloud hovering above him. With a frown on his face he grabbed the mask that was covering his mouth and nose and pulled it down.

"What... what happened?" Roxas asked with a slight cough as he looked at Cloud.

Cloud smiled weakly, "Your oxygen level got dangerously low, the doctor said that it probably was because of your claustrophobia..."

Roxas sighed deeply and grimaced at the dryness in his mouth and throat.

"Here," Cloud said and handed Roxas a glass of water, as if he had read his brother's mind.

Roxas gratefully accepted the glass and downed all the water in just a few seconds before handing the glass back to Cloud, "Thanks..." he said and then took a deep breath as he pushed himself up in sitting position, "Do I... do I have to stay here? Do I have to do the CT again?" he then worryingly asked.

Cloud chuckled and shook his head, "No, it's all right. Your vitals are fine and they got the CT before we noticed you were out and didn't breath properly," he explained, "We just need to get back here and make sure that you're ok," he said.

"Oh... Great," Roxas said and let out a sigh of relief as he leant back against the not so comfortable pillows in the hospital bed.

"You gave me quite a scare there..."

"I did say I was claustrophobic!" Roxas said in defence as he looked at Cloud with a pout on his face, "I just... I don't know... I didn't even have time to really panic before I blacked out," he said with a shrug.

And just as Cloud was about to answer a beeping sound was heard from Cloud. Both of the brothers stared at each other dumbly before Cloud jumped up and picked up the phone and answered without even checking who it was.

"Cloud Strife speaking," he answered and blinked. Soon he got quite a confused face expression that later turned to a smirk.

"Calm down, Axel, Roxas is alive..." he said with a chuckle, "No, there's no need to panic. Take a deep breath and I'll hand the phone over to Roxas, 'kay?" he then asked and chuckled again as he looked at Roxas and held out the phone for him.

Roxas frowned as he took the phone and put it to his ear, "Axel?" he questioningly said.

"**Do you have any idea how freaking worried I have been! You didn't pick up your phone! I messaged you like... 4 times! And then I called about 5 times! I thought something had happened! I thought you said you'd keep track of your phone all the time! I had to get in contact with Zack and it took a good while before he even gave me Cloud's number!"**

Roxas almost had to put the phone at some distance from his ear since Axel was talking rather loudly, he was pretty sure that Cloud even could hear every word the redhead was saying.

"I'm sorry, Axel, and please calm down," Roxas said softly with a slightly bothered smile on his face, "Actually something kind of happened so I couldn't answer my phone either way..." he said and trailed of.

"**What? What happened? You're okay, right? You aren't hurt, right? RIGHT?!" **Axel was pretty much yelling at this point, and Cloud watched Roxas with an amused face expression,

"Axel!" Roxas hissed, "Stop panicking, I'm talking to you for God's sake, all I did was black out when they were taking a CT of my head," he said with a sigh, "You know, the claustrophobia..."

"**Shit! So you just... passed out? Just like that?"**

"Yeah, just like that..." Roxas said, "But I'm all right now, we're simply waiting for the doctor to get back, then Cloud and I can leave the hospital and get back to the hotel..."

"**Thank God you're all right..." **Axel said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah," Roxas said and smiled, "So, what are you up to? I hope you aren't going around being all sulky just because I'm not there, I got a text message from Demyx that said you-,"

"**Yeah, yeah. I guess I've been acting kinda bitchy..." **Axel said with a sigh, **"But I miss you sooooo much!" **he then whined which made Roxas chuckle.

"Aw, I'll be back in two days, try to keep yourself occupied and the time will just fly by," Roxas said to try and cheer his boyfriend up slightly, "And I miss you as well."

"**I'm doing my best, Reno declared that we're having a movie marathon so I guess that will make us stay up until early morning, so hopefully I'll sleep away much of Saturday. And then it will soon enough be Sunday! And then it's Roxas and Axel time! Yay!" **Axel happily said, Roxas could almost imagine Axel doing a victory dance of some sort. It wouldn't surprise him if the redhead actually was dancing. He had seen Axel do weirder stuff than that. Like the time he had seen Axel put a pair of underwear in the microwave... No, Roxas hadn't even asked about that. He wasn't sure he wanted to know why.

"Uh, try to not mess up your sleeping habits too bad, eh?" Roxas said with a laugh, "Or else you'll be sleeping when I get back on Sunday. And then you'll be too tired to get yourself to school on Monday," he then sternly said.

A sigh was heard from Axel, **"Yeah, mom."**

"You know you love me," Roxas said dryly and then sighed, "Hey, Axel... I think the doctor is on his way, cause Cloud is standing by the door and making ridiculous charades trying to impersonate the doctor so uh... I guess we'll talk tomorrow, right?" he asked as he looked at his brother who actually stood by the door and gesticulated wildly. Ah, right... They weren't allowed to keep their cell phones on at the hospital, that was probably why.

"**Ah, all right... Love ya, Roxie," **Axel said softly and sighed, **"Yeah, and you better keep track of your phone tomorrow!"**

Roxas chuckled, "I will, bye, love you," and with that Roxas hung up on Axel and quickly threw the phone to Cloud who immediately pushed it down his pocket at the same moment as the doctor entered the room.

Both Roxas and Cloud jumped slightly and tried to look as normal as possible when the doctor eyed them with slight suspicion. They didn't really look as normal as they had hoped to.

"...Is something happening?" the doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No! Nothing!" both Cloud and Roxas said at the same time before looking at each other in slight confusion before nervously chuckling.

The doctor sighed and shook his head as he walked up to Roxas and checked his pulse and various other things that had to do with his health. Then he wrote something down on his note pad, which was probably going to be inserted into Roxas's journal.

"Well, from what I can see you're healthy enough to get back to the hotel," he said with a slight nod, "So you just need to come back here for a short while tomorrow and then everything should be done and we wont have to bother you for a while," he said with a friendly smile and extended his right hand.

"Great," Roxas replied as he stood up and and gave the doctors hand a slight shake. After that the doctor shook hands with Cloud and then he left the two brothers alone.

Roxas looked at Cloud, "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Cloud just smirked as he put his hands on his hips, "I had no idea you were in such a hurry that you planned to go out in the hospital gown," he said with a shrug, "But if that's what you're planning, sure, I don't mind," he said innocently and then grinned at Roxas who had started to blush slightly.

Said younger brother growled as he looked around and spotted his clothes neatly folded at a table, "Shut up," he muttered as he got the gown of and quickly replaced it with his normal clothes.

* * *

"Cloud... I'm just going to go into the store before we get back to the hotel... Do you want something?" Roxas asked with a tilted head as he looked at Cloud who walked beside him.

"Uh... You could buy a newspaper..." he said and trailed of, "Other than that I'm fine, sure you don't want company?" he asked as he looked at his younger brother who started to go towards the entrance of the store.

Roxas looked back at Cloud, "It's all right, it's just a short walk to the hotel from here. I'll be back in a while," he said with a shrug and smiled lightly, "Get back to the hotel," he then added as he gave a wave and entered the store.

Since it was late there weren't much people in the store. Which Roxas thought was good... He had used to live pretty close to this store and he had been there at several occasions. It was here that he and his friends had used to buy snacks when they were having a movie night or something like that. Roxas sighed sadly as he kept walking down an isle, looking at random products. He wasn't really sure what he wanted. Maybe some sea salt ice-cream...?

"Hm..." he let out as he turned on his heel and went to the back of the store where they had the packs of ice-cream. And yeah, if Roxas was going to buy ice-cream he wouldn't be buying just one. He would buy a whole pack of ice-cream. People didn't really think it looked like it, but Roxas had a big weakness for both sweet and salt things. So sea salt ice-cream was one of his big weaknesses.

He smiled to himself as he looked at the different flavours of ice-cream. It looked pretty much like it had done last time he had been there buying ice-cream. He sighed slightly as he bent down to pick up one of the boxes of sea salt ice-cream but jumped slightly when he met a hand that was reaching for the same box.

"Oh, sorry!" a voice said from in front of him.

Roxas looked up in both shock and surprise as he stared at the person in front of him. He almost couldn't believe his eyes. The other person's eyes widened as well, maybe even more than Roxas's eyes.

"...Olette?" Roxas said as he stared at the girl standing in front of him.

"Roxas!"

And with that Roxas all of a sudden found himself stuck in a bone crushing hug... Wait a moment, a hug? She hugged him? If Roxas had been surprised before she hugged him, it didn't compare to now.

_'This just keeps getting weirder...'_

**AN:** Weeell... That was all for chapter 12! Next is chapter 13 (Roooxaaasss) 8D Drama, much? What's the deal with this sudden hugging? What's the deal with Xemmy screwing things up? Well, you have to wait for next wonderfull amazing chapter of Someone Else's Shadow! And who should be the next person to bring into the story, huh? Xigbar? Luxord? Larxene? Someone else? Feel free to tell me what you'd want, if you're lucky I might do as you say :3

**Cloud: **What? Me, _again_? ...Great. **Please **review cause that would make **me** oh so **happy**. -rolls eyes and walks away-

...You couldn't try to sound a little bit nicer, eh? D:


	13. Chapter 13

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**AN:** Yippee, see, I'm a fast updater! :D At least when I want to be one... And well, I must say that I'm happier with this chapter than I was with the previous one! So, I wont be keeping you for long, I guess you do want to know what's going on since there was some confusing last chapter XD

**Thanks:** As last time I want to thank **Pocket Rainbow** for beta reading and correction my errors! Thanks a lot!  
And also; **keiyoku**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **Ania24**, **Fallen Wind Rider**, **h0n3ybun**, **SkyeFlyte**, **Delayed-Reaction**, **HeartFlare05**, **KooriTheSneak**, **Kikyo Uchiha**, **Ally Montgomery**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **The Infamous Me**, **lovetheHams**, **x3loujuriax3**, **HarrylovesDraco**, **What About Today**, **Soskyler**, **Ren13013**, **gothicgirl2.0** and **xXShadowXKissedXx**. Thanks a lot for reviewing!

**Warnings: **AU, boy x boy relationships, mentions of sex, two penises (don't. ask.), violence and language.

**Disclaimer: **GUESS WHAT?! ... I don't own Kingdom Hearts! Square Enix and Disney does!  
**Xemnas: **NYUUUU! Stop saying that! DX

**

* * *

  
Chapter 13**

"Olette?" Roxas repeated as he found Olette's arms tightly wrapped around his body in quite a crushing hug, "I... I don't understand," he then said with a slight blush on his cheeks. Wasn't she supposed to hate him? To call him names or something like that?

Said girl let out a sound that sounded somewhat frustrated, "Roxas, I'm so sorry!" she said, still not letting go of him, "This is all just so stupid!" she then said, Roxas could hear that she was clearly upset.

He opened his mouth and gently pushed Olette away so they faced each other again, "Olette, I..." he trailed of at seeing the pleading look in her eyes.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you!" she said, still sounding very upset, "Things are so messed up here, everyone is so... I don't know," she sounded sad as well, she looked down to the floor.

Roxas sighed and bit his lip, "I... I thought you guys didn't want to be associated with a slut like me," he murmured with a clearly hurt voice. It had been a long time since he had talked to them in person. But it wouldn't make it any less painfull. He could still hear Hayner's voice echoing in his mind. He had called Roxas so many awful things.

Olette blushed in shame as she looked down before looking up at Roxas again, "I never thought of you that way," she softly said and then sighed deeply, "I... I was just being a coward and didn't say anything while I should have stood up for you," she said quietly.

"Please, I... I don't want to stand and talk about this here..." he said with a look of discomfort on his face, he felt too exposed standing in a store and talking about one of the traumatic experiences in his life.

The brunette bit her lip and quickly looked around, "Please, come to my place?" she asked with a tinge of desperation in her voice, "I really want to talk to you, Roxas," she added.

"I'm not sure..."

"Please!"

Roxas sighed as he scratched his head and looked at her. Well... Maybe he could give it a shot. After all Olette had been the one standing in the back when Hayner and Pence (of all people!) had badmouthed Roxas. And he knew that Olette never had been a good liar. She did look genuinely upset.

"I... all right..." he said weakly, "Hayner and Pence... won't be there, right?" he then asked in worry. He was not going to get thrown into another argument with Hayner.

Olette shook her head wildly, "No, no! Of course not!" she exclaimed, "Just you and me, I promise you that Roxas, I know that you might not really believe me but..."

"It's all right, I believe you," Roxas said softly and smiled sadly, "Well, should we... Head out, then?" he asked, "Or, well, I need to buy Cloud a newspaper and some ice-cream..." he then said.

"Let me get the ice-cream," Olette said with a small smile on her face, "Then we'll have something to eat while we're talking, right?" she asked as she picked up the ice cream that had made them run into each other like this.

"Sure," Roxas said as they made their way to the check out, there he simply grabbed the newspaper Cloud wanted and paid for it. It didn't cost that much munny. Olette went after and paid for the sea salt ice-cream and after that they simply headed out.

"... I just have to call Cloud, or he'll worry to death," Roxas said as he picked up his phone.

Olette nodded as she watched Roxas enter Cloud's cell phone number.

"Cloud?" Roxas questioningly said when he heard a clicking sound.

"**Roxas, is something wrong?"**

"No, nothing is wrong, I just wanted to tell you that I ran into a friend so I'm going to her place so we can talk for a bit..." he said and trailed of.

"**A friend? Which friend? Is it far from here?"**

"Olette... And no, it isn't far," Roxas said with a sigh, "You don't have to worry, you're starting to sound like Axel. I'll just keep my phone with me all the time, all right?" he tiredly asked. Sometimes Cloud could really over-worry about him. But that would never beat Axel's worry frenzy from earlier.

"**All right... But make sure to get back later, and call before you head back so I am sure that nothing happens. Hollow Bastion isn't really a safe place..."**

"Cloud, I've lived here. I know which neighbourhoods to avoid," Roxas said with a roll of his eyes, "I'll be careful. See you later," and with that he hung up before Cloud had time to start ranting about something else.

Olette looked at Roxas with a slight smile on her face, "Your brother?" she asked.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah... He's worrying a bit too much about stuff, but well... Cloud is great," he said softly as they walked up a staircase and he immediately spotted the way that would lead to Olette's house.

She just smiled softly as they headed up to a pretty small but nice looking house. Olette headed up first and unlocked the door, her parents were home judging by the car parked outside... But you didn't want to leave your doors unlocked in Hollow Bastion. Not even when you were home.

"I'm home!" she yelled as soon as she got inside, and she motioned for Roxas to follow her, which he did. Both took their shoes off and Olette headed to the kitchen where her mother sat by the table with a cup of coffee in her hand, "I brought a friend," she then said with a smile on her face as she stepped aside to let Roxas into the kitchen as well.

Olette's mother looked at Roxas with wide eyes before she pretty much jumped up from her seat and gasped, "Oh God! Roxas!" she almost squealed as she ran up to him to give him a hug very similar to the one he had received from Olette earlier, "It's been such a long time since we got to see you, honey! Have you been all right? I haven't been able to stop worrying about you!" she said as she looked all over him.

Roxas smiled and let out a chuckle. It was a mystery to him that none of the adults seemed to know about the rumours. Or maybe they did know, but didn't believe them?

"I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me at all. Cloud is taking care of me," he said with a smile on his face. He was actually happy to see Olette and her mother. She was a really caring woman. And Olette had definiteley taken after her mom.

"That's great to hear, with you moving and all..." she sighed and shook her head.

"After everything that happened I had too," Roxas said quietly, "It's... refreshing, actually," he then added with a slightly brighter look on his face. And if he hadn't moved, he wouldn't have met Axel. If... he hadn't been raped. He wouldn't have met Axel. In that way it had been worth it. Because now Roxas couldn't imagine life without his redhead.

"It must have been hard to stay here," Olette's mother said with a soft smile on her face, "Well, I'm not going to keep you two! I'm sure you two have some catching up to do!" she said and laughed.

Olette smiled as she grabbed Roxas's arm and pulled him towards her room. Once they stepped in he let out a relaxed sigh, it was exactly like it had been the last time he was there. She had a lot of pictures on her walls. Several of them were of the times they all used to be best friends. It hurt a little to see them... But he shrugged it off as they both sat down on Olette's big round bed.

"So... Roxas..." she said and trailed off as she looked at the pack of ice cream she held in her arms. She ended up ripping it up and handing one to Roxas who happily took it. He loved sea salt ice-cream with a passion, "I'm really sorry about all of this, I know you wouldn't sleep around with people..." she said shamefully.

Roxas sighed as he licked his ice cream and then looked at Olette, "I don't really blame you..."

"I... I thought you two were happy together, I don't see... why he started to tell everyone that you slept around," she said with obvious confusion in her voice, "And Hayner... that he triggered the rumours is unforgivable..."

Roxas looked down, "We... It was never love," he murmured, "It was just a passing thing, and... after my parents deaths..." he trailed of and shook his head. He felt a lump in his throat and his stomach didn't feel good at all.

"Roxas, what happened?" she asked in something that was almost a whisper.

Roxas closed his eyes, "I've only told one person about this..." he murmured, "After my parents... I wanted to break up... But he... Olette, he abused me so much that night, and he... raped me," his voice was trembling, he hated to talk about it. He hated to think about his dead parents. He hated to think about the rape.

Olette gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, "Seifer... raped you?" she asked with wide eyes.

Roxas only nodded and he couldn't help flinching at simply hearing his name...

"He wanted to get into my pants all along," he murmured, "I was too ashamed to say anything, not even Cloud knows about this. Only me, you, Axel... and him, of course..." he added with a sad smile.

"I'm so sorry, Roxas," she said with wide eyes, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Roxas looked down at his ice cream and sighed as he threw it in the trash can beside Olette's bed. He wasn't about to finish that while they talked about his earlier traumatic experiences.

"I just couldn't, before I knew it he had started to spread those rumours about me," he said sadly, "Olette, no one would have believed me if I told them Seifer had raped me," he said and looked at her.

"I would have..." she said with a quiet tone, "I would have believed you, Roxas,"

Roxas smiled weakly, "I know, but with Hayner and everyone else in town saying those other things... it wouldn't have proved anything..."

Olette sighed, "If Hayner hadn't triggered those rumours..." she murmured and clenched her fists, "I... I haven't been talking to him or Pence for a while now," she said with a sigh, "I got tired of them. Hayner has been such an ass lately, and Pence... He simply follows Hayner around everywhere."

Roxas shrugged, "It doesn't matter any more," he said with a sigh, "Besides, if these things hadn't happened I wouldn't have met Axel," he then said with a small smile on his face.

Olette blinked and tilted her head, "You've mentioned his name a couple of times now... Who is Axel?" she asked curiously, and Roxas was happy to escape the sad and depressing topics.

"Axel is my boyfriend," he said and smiled, "He's one of the most loyal, nicest, loving and caring persons I've ever met in my whole life," he said. And it was true, no one would ever be able to make Roxas feel the same way as Axel did.

Olette smiled widely, "Oooh, tell me more! Now you got me all interested," she said with a giggle which made Roxas chuckle. Now he was actually happy that he had run into Olette, "How did you meet?

"He made me fall down a tree," he sheepishly said with a smile on his face, "I had fallen asleep and he woke me up by shouting so I turned over and fell down."

"Oh! Did you get hurt?" she asked with wide eyes.

Roxas shrugged, "Concussion, but thanks to that he worried a whole lot about me, so when I returned to school I was dragged to sit with him and his friends and since then I've been a part of their gang," he explained and let out a chuckle.

"What a way to meet!" she squealed, "Well, how did you fall in love? How long have you been together?"

Roxas laughed, "That's even more... weird... I got into a fight with a guy called Riku, he hit me and when he was about to hit me again Axel appeared out of nowhere and totally beat him up, one of our friends had to pull Axel away from him or he could have killed him," Roxas said and smiled slightly, "He calmed down when he noticed that I was a bit hurt, so uh..." he trailed of and blushed.

"Whaaat?"

"He asked me if I'd let him kiss away the pain," Roxas said and blushed even more, "I was so surprised that I didn't say anything at first and he started to pull away cause he apparently thought I would reject him but I... I just said; "What if I would say yes?"... and with that... we kissed," he said and scratched his head.

Olette couldn't help squealing loudly at hearing this, "That's _sooo_ cute!"

Roxas smiled weakly, "Yeah... He's a really sweet person. We've been together about a month now, I think. Maybe a bit less..." he said with frown on his face, "Either way, I'm really happy with Axel," he said with a wide smile on his dace.

"What does he look like?" she then asked in interest, "Don't worry, I'm not going to steal your boyfriend, I'm just interested! This is what's great with having a gay friend, I can finally talk boys with someone!" she said with a giggle.

Roxas couldn't help laughing at that, "My phone is filled with pictures, he loves to take photos of himself and me with my phone," he said as he plucked his phone up from his pocket and opened one of his picture folders. And he couldn't help snorting when he noticed how many pictures there where. He knew Axel liked to photograph them, but he never thought there were **that** many...

He scooted over closer to Olette and handed her the phone, he figured she'd like to flip through the pictures by herself.

She smiled at him as she received the phone and looked at the first picture, which was also the latest one. It was Axel kissing Roxas's cheek, Roxas didn't look that happy in the picture, but as Olette flipped back she realized it might have been cause there was about 10 more pictures from the same moment. She giggled as she looked through the pictures.

"Who's that?" she asked all of a sudden as she reached a picture of Zack, "He's very good looking," she then said.

Roxas laughed and shook his head, "That's Zack Fair, he's in his final year... But he and Cloud are kind of seeing each other," he said and that made Olette pout, "At least I found them in Cloud's bed all snuggled up together."

"You didn't!" she said and gasped.

"I did!" he answered and laughed, "Well, most of the people I associate with seem to be gay," he then said as she reached a picture of Demyx hugging Zexion, "That's Demyx and Zexion, they're great people... And they're together," he added and Olette sighed.

"Why are all good looking guys gay?" she asked and looked at Roxas.

"Thanks, Olette, that's nice of you," Roxas jokingly said and grinned.

Olette rolled her eyes and pushed Roxas before continuing to look through the pictures, "You and Axel look really cute together, I wish I could meet him to see if I approve," she teasingly said.

"Well, you can come to Twilight, I just guess it's quite a long trip," he said and smiled weakly.

Olette sighed and handed back the phone, "Actually, mom has been talking about moving... Destiny Islands," she said and shrugged, "Hollow Bastion is too dangerous these days, and I think it would be great for both me and mom," she said and smiled weakly.

Roxas gave a slight nod, "I get it, but hey... Destiny is a lot closer to Twilight than Hollow Bastion, we'd be able to see each other easier that way," he said with a wink.

Olette laughed and nodded, "Yes, that'd be great, nothing has been the same without you," she said softly, "I don't feel like staying in this town any longer, I think I could do with a new and fresh start as well, and I have heard that Destiny Islands high school is great," she said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I think that would be great for you," Roxas said with a smile on his face.

She sighed and then hugged Roxas, "I still have a hard time believing that he did that to you..." she murmured.

"I... please, can we not talk about that?" Roxas asked, "I don't like talking about it... I don't really want to think about what happened, it's quite painful memories," he said.

"I just... have you talked about it with someone at least?" she worryingly asked.

Roxas nodded and sighed as he rested his chin on Olette's shoulder, "Axel and I talked about it, we've talked about a lot of things actually... He's like my own personal psychologist," he said with a weak chuckle as Olette eventually let go of him.

"That's good at least, but I think-,"

"I should report it, I know," Roxas said, "There is no evidence, I don't want this to get out in public either so..."

Olette sighed softly but nodded, "I respect your decision," she said.

Roxas smiled, "Thanks, it's nice to have support on that... Axel is good support as well, and he doesn't have parents either, so I guess we have some kind of understanding..."

"He doesn't?" she asked with tilted head.

Roxas shook his head and sighed, "I think he said he was about 5 years old when they died, his brother was 11 so they ended up at an orphanage, and they actually lived at Destiny Islands..." he then added with a raised eyebrow, he had totally forgotten about that, "Well, when Reno, his brother, turned 18 he took Axel and got out of there and moved to Twilight Town," he explained.

"Aha..." she let out.

Roxas only gave a nod and then sighed as he looked at the watch, "Huh... I think I should get going soon, or Cloud will kill me..." he said and chuckled, "We're going home tomorrow, too bad I didn't run into you earlier."

Olette smiled sadly as they both stood up, "Yeah, but we can keep in touch, right? And I'll tell you about the moving plans cause if we move to Destiny Islands it would be fantastic, I want to see you more often," she said before she hugged Roxas one last time and then handed him the pack of ice cream with a giggle, "If you hurry back the ice cream might be saved, I know that sea salt is your favourite."

"Thanks, 'Lette," he said and chuckled as he took the ice cream and also grabbed the newspaper he was bringing Cloud, "Well, we always have phones, right?" said as they walked out of Olette's room and out to the hall.

"Of course! We've to talk more on the phone," she said as she watched Roxas put on his shoes.

All of a sudden Olette's mother appeared from the kitchen, "Oh, you're leaving?" she asked with a frown on her face.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah, I must get back to the hotel," he said with a chuckle.

"That's too bad really, why are you here either way?"

Now Olette blinked as well, she hadn't even thought about asking that.

"A yearly examination to make sure that there's nothing wrong with me since the accident," he said softly.

Both Olette and her mother 'oh'ed at that.

"Well, I better get going so Cloud doesn't get all worked up," Roxas then said with another chuckle as Olette's mother hugged him again, and then Olette as well.

"Bye, Roxas, you're always welcome back here," her mother said.

"I know, thanks a lot, bye," he said and opened the door, "Take care, Olette,"

"You too," she said and with a wave the door closed.

Roxas sighed softly as he started walking towards the hotel once more. He had really been surprised to run into Olette like that. But he was really happy he had done that now, at first he had gotten quite scared. But he should have known that Olette wouldn't let him down.

He smiled to himself. It felt pretty good, to have one of his old friends back. And it had been really fun talking about things with her. Like Axel. Huh, he wondered what Axel would say when Roxas told him about being friends with Olette again. He'd probably say something along the lines that Roxas let her off the hook to easy. But he didn't care.

"Roxas?"

Roxas yelped in surprise as he, for the second time that evening heard someone say his name. He was starting to feel paranoid. Slowly he turned around with wide eyes.

"I never thought I'd see you again any time soon, baby..."

"Seifer!"

* * *

"Zexion..."

A moan escaped the mullet haired teen as soft lips travelled over sensitive skin.

"Demyx," Zexion murmured, "I love you so much, Demyx," he said as he rested his chin on Demyx's shoulder.

Demyx let out a weak laugh, "I love you as well..." he said and then sighed, "That... was the best sex in forever..." he then murmured.

Zexion snorted as he looked down at his boyfriend, "That's what you say every time..."

Demyx chuckled weakly as he pushed Zexion off of him as he stood up in all his naked glory and headed for the door.

"What are you doing?" Zexion asked with a raised eyebrow.

Demyx grinned with his hands on his hips, "Getting a snack. In the nude," he said with a wink and left the room, "You know you wanna look!" a distant yell was then heard.

Zexion just sat there in the bed with a blank face expression. Why would he want to watch Demyx, naked, in the kitchen?

Snack... Chocolate sauce... whipped cream... Demyx... naked and covered in it.

"Hell with it!" Zexion muttered as he pushed himself up from the bed and ran after Demyx.

* * *

"Take one step closer to my him and you'll lose something dear to your masculinity," a cold voice was heard from behind. It made Roxas let out a shaky sigh of relief. It was Cloud!

Seifer turned around wit a glare, "And who're you to tell me that?" he asked as he looked at Cloud and then put his hands on Roxas's shoulders.

"I'm his brother," Cloud hissed, "And you don't want to piss me off if you value your pathetic excuse of a life."

Roxas held his breath as he felt Seifer's fingers dig into his shoulder, to later be released. Seifer threw a dirty look at Roxas before stepping back to avoid getting killed by Cloud's murderous intent.

"Fine, you were lucky this time, Strife," he hissed before he turned on his heel and walked another way.

Roxas let out a breath he had been holding in for quite a long time before he looked at Cloud with wide eyes.

"Roxas," Cloud worriedeley said as he hurried up to his younger brother who still stood against the wall, he was still kind of frozen in place out of fear. Seifer had been so close. Just thinking of what could have happened made Roxas feel sick, "Hey, are you okay? Did he do anything?" Cloud asked as he gently put his hands on Roxas's shoulders.

"I-I'm okay," Roxas stuttered as he looked up at Cloud, "Just fine..."

"Who... wasn't that your ex?" he asked as he looked at his smaller brother who pretty much radiated fear. Something wasn't right.

Roxas simply nodded at Cloud's question, "Yeah..."

"Roxas, I know you haven't talked to me about what happened here in Hollow Bastion back then but..." he trailed of and sighed, "Forget it, let's get you back to the hotel," he then said softly and gently pulled at Roxas to make him move.

"I'm sorry..." Roxas murmured.

Cloud blinked as he looked at Roxas, "For what?"

"Getting into trouble like that... If I had known I'd run into S-Seifer... then..." he trailed of and shook his head, "I don't... I don't feel so good," he said all of a sudden.

Cloud just gave a nod as he sped up their pace a little bit, and both he and Roxas were very thankful that the hotel was close from where they walked. Because as soon as they got into their hotel room Roxas pretty much threw himself into the bathroom and threw up.

Cloud grimaced at the sound of his younger brother heaving up the content of his stomach. He had never liked to hear other people throw up. 'Cause that made him feel like doing it as well. But he forced himself to at least try and shut the sound out. And luckily enough Roxas wasn't in the bathroom for long.

Roxas took a shuddering breath before he went up to the sink and cleaned his face and mouth to get rid of the foul taste. With that he headed out and just dropped down on is bed. Cloud sat on the other bed and glanced at Roxas with a worried expression.

"Roxas, what happened before we moved?" Cloud asked and saw how Roxas glanced another way, "I won't buy it if you say nothing, you and that guy... Something with your earlier relationship, right?" he asked, figuring that might be an easier way to figure it out. By asking.

Roxas nodded, "Yeah..."

"That time when you refused to tell me who had hurt you... Was that him?"

Roxas sighed as he glanced at Cloud, "What do you think?" he murmured and then glanced another way again.

Cloud closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I should have hit the bastard then," he said in a frustrated voice, "I should have-,"

"No, Cloud, you shouldn't," Roxas said with a strained voice, "Just... leave it all alone, I don't even want to discuss or think about him. I want to go back to Twilight and be with Axel again," he said sadly.

Cloud sighed and shook his head, "You can be so selfish sometimes," he said, clearly annoyed, "I freaking saved you from your crazy ex, and every time I as much as ask for an explanation you give me the cold shoulder!" he said.

Oh great. This was something that Roxas didn't feel like going through right now. He had no interest in getting into a fight with Cloud. He had never been able to stand fighting Cloud. His older brother knew exactly how to make Roxas feel guilty and regretful.

"Cloud-,"

"No, Roxas, this is enough, all I'm asking for is an explanation, nothing more," he said, now standing up, "I won't bring it up again as long as you explain!"

Now it was Roxas' turn to snap, "What do you want me to say?! I broke up with him cause I couldn't be in a relationship after mom and dad died! And what about that, you might wonder? He didn't like the idea, so he took the liberty to beat me around and then force himself on me!" he pretty much yelled at the top of his lungs, realizing too late that he actually had told Cloud what had happened. And surprisingly enough it had felt quite good in a strange way, to just yell about it. He had gotten out some frustration.

Cloud just stared at Roxas with an open mouth, still trying to register everything that Roxas just had told him. Or well, what he had yelled.

Roxas bit his lip as he looked down. That hadn't really gone quite as planned. He hadn't meant to tell Cloud since he knew what it could turn into. He had several different scenarios in his mind. Like Cloud trying to force Roxas to report it. Or making Roxas go and see a psychologist. Or Cloud going out to kill Seifer, which Roxas wouldn't mind if it weren't for the law.

"Are you happy now, Cloud?" Roxas asked with a monotone voice, "Now you know, so don't bring it up again..." he murmured and trailed off as he lied down, facing the wall, and pulled the blanket over himself.

"Roxas..."

"Please..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Roxas was actually surprised at the sad voice he heard from Cloud. It wasn't that he thought Cloud wouldn't give a shit about it, he had just thought Cloud would be a lot more upset about the thing. And that had been the main reason he hadn't said anything.

"I thought you wouldn't let it go if I did," Roxas murmured, "And I just want to forget it."

Roxas could feel the weight in his bed shift as Cloud sat down on it and sighed deeply, "Damn it, I'm sorry, Roxas," he murmured.

"Don't be, you couldn't have prevented what happened..."

"I... I respect that you don't want to take it any further," Cloud then said, and that was something that surprised Roxas even more.

He blinked as he turned and looked at Cloud, "Thanks, Cloud, I appreciate it..."

Cloud sighed once more and then stood up, but before he went over to his own bed he ruffled Roxas' hair, "Good night," he said softly, "And for future reference, tell me if something happens."

* * *

"Roxas..."

Oh God damn it... He wanted to keep sleeping! Why was he being woken up now? Couldn't his evil brother see that he wanted to sleep! Roxas just groaned and turned in bed, not bothering to open his eyes or to get up.

"Time to get up," Cloud said as he cruelly ripped the blanked off of Roxas who just whimpered and curled up into a ball.

Cloud sighed as he looked at his brother. Roxas was really hopeless when it came to getting up from bed. Was it weird that Cloud had to shout at him for several minutes every morning?

"Well, if this is the case I guess you aren't bothered by the fact that you're sleeping away valuable time that could be used for us getting back to Twilight Town-,"

"Wha?! I'm up, I swear I am!" Roxas groggily said as he shot up in sitting position, trying to focus his sight on Cloud who smirked at him, "And... what do you mean getting back to Twilight, I thought we were heading back tonight?" he then asked with a frown on his face.

Cloud chuckled, "That was the plan, but you're a damn heavy sleeper... So I went to the hospital earlier and talked to them, since I'm your legal guardian they had no problems with telling me that your results were all fine," he said with a shrug, "I saw no need in waking you up. You could sleep through a war," he said with a raised eyebrow as he looked at Roxas who started to look more alert.

"You mean... we can go, like, now?" he asked with wide eyes, looking at his brother.

"Yes, we can go like... now," he said, "If you get ready... And there won't be a lot of traffic, so if we're lucky we'll arrive in town tonight, and you can see you boyfriend today," he said and that was all that Roxas needed to hear to make him jump out of his bed.

Cloud smiled for himself as he watched Roxas get ready at an amazing speed. It was quite fun to wake Roxas up on mornings, especially when he could then tease him a bit. And then make him go into panic... It was all priceless. Especially since his brother usually had a really pissy morning mood.

"So, I'm ready! Let's get going!"

"Sure you want to go with your pants on backwards?"

"...You could have told me earlier."

"Where's the fun in that?" Cloud asked with a smirk as Roxas swore loudly and pulled his pants off to put them on the right way. Cloud would have snickered at his brother if it wasn't for the fact that he feared the morning beast resting inside of Roxas. It could be so much fun tormenting your brother...

* * *

Reno sighed as he zapped through the channels on the TV. He was tired, but after ten cups of coffee at least he wasn't on the verge of falling asleep. The movie marathon had lasted the whole night, up until around 4 am. And Reno, being stupid, hadn't even bothered going to sleep after that. Basically he had been up for about 40 hours... Or somewhere along those numbers. He wasn't really feeling up to doing any math. Technically Reno could go to sleep now to try and save his sleeping habits. It was 8.30pm, and Axel... he had gone to sleep at about 8. Saying something about wanting Sunday as fast as possible so he could see Roxas again.

So, why didn't Reno go to sleep? Well, the caffeine was still running through his veins. It didn't matter that Reno felt tired as hell. The coffee was keeping him up. Trust me, the poor guy had tried to sleep, without success I might add.

"Why the fuck is there just shit on here?" Reno muttered as he kept zapping through channel after channel. He had been doing this for the last couple of hours. And he had found nothing of interest. Or well, there had been a documentary about a man who had two penises... Had been quite interesting but it had freaked him out. A lot.

All of a sudden a knock was heard on the door, all Reno did was glare at the door. He hadn't been expecting company. He hadn't ordered food. Reno sighed and shrugged before pushing himself up from the couch and pretty much dragging himself towards the door and unlocked it before opening up just a little bit so he could see who it was, as long as it wasn't any mortal enemies it would be fine.

Reno's eyes widened when he saw not just one, but two spiky blondes outside his door. He opened it up widely to look at both Roxas and Cloud.

"Roxas, Cloud," he said and blinked before grinning slightly, "Well, how nice to see both of you here!" he said with a chuckle, "You wanna come in? Of course you want to!"

And before the blondes had time to even say something Reno had dragged them into the apartment and closed the door.

"Reno, are you okay?" Roxas asked with a frown on his face, "You seem a bit..."

"It's the coffee, yo! I've been awake for 40 hours and been drinking like ten cups of coffee!" he said and laughed as he shoved them into the kitchen.

Cloud frowned and then looked at Roxas who shrugged, "Well... I should get going really..." he said and trailed of at the end, "That is if Roxas can stay the night," he then added.

"Of course! Axel will be thrilled when he sees Roxie!" Reno said and grinned, "He's sleeping right now but he'll be fine if you wake him up, he just went to sleep cause he wanted it to be Sunday, so he could see you, yo," he then said with a smirk.

Roxas smiled slightly and chuckled, "Sounds like him... Well then, Cloud, I'll see you sometime tomorrow, right?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow.

Cloud shrugged, "Yeah, give a call or something," he said and then looked at Reno, "I guess I'll be seeing you sometime..." he said, not looking so happy about it.

Reno grinned, "Don't worry, I'm keeping my hands to myself and my boyfriend these days, yo," he said with a wink which only resulted in Cloud rolling his eyes.

"You better mean that," he muttered, "And I can show myself out, bye," he said and with that he left the kitchen, not much later they heard the door close.

Reno let out a laugh and shook his head, "Damn, I thought your bro would try something dirty on me for a while, you don't mess with that glare of his, yo!" he said and shuddered when he thought back on the day he had groped Cloud. The blonde had clearly stated that he didn't appreciate it by pulling a knee straight into Reno's crotch.

"Heh, I guess you don't," Roxas said and grinned.

"So you got back earlier, huh?" Reno then asked.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Obviously, yeah, we did," he said and then glanced around, "Uh..."

The tall redhead chuckled and then smirked, "Don't let me keep you, go and surprise Axel, he could need some positive surprising with everything happening," he said and shrugged, "And I'll go back to zap on the TV until I fall asleep from exhaustion!"

Roxas laughed as he started leaving the kitchen, "Just try to get some sleep," and with that he headed for Axel's bedroom and carefully opened up the door.

Roxas blinked when he entered the room, it was dark. No light on... But thankfully the moonlight was enough to unable him to see in the room. He couldn't help smiling when he spotted Axel lying in his bed, hugging a pillow to his chest. Someone looked pretty lonely.

"Aw..." Roxas said with a soft chuckle as he walked up to the bed and took a closer look at Axel who was looking more beautiful than ever. Roxas could only guess it was the moonlight that gave him that effect. Or maybe it simply was because he had missed being with Axel.

Roxas sighed and shook his head as he took his pants and shirt off, then he quietly sneaked over to Axel's closet and grabbed one of Axel's t-shirts. Which were pretty big on Roxas, equalling a perfect shirt to sleep in. With that done Roxas carefully pulled the pillow out of Axel's arms to then quikly slip into the bed, close to Axel.

Axel whined at the loss of the pillow but it seemed that Axel's hands quickly found the replacement. Roxas couldn't help smiling when he felt Axel wrap his arms around him.

He let out a content sigh before closing his eyes and snuggling up to Axel. It would be a much better surprise if Axel found out the next morning instead. Roxas couldn't wait to see Axel's face at finding him in his arms.

"I'm home, Axel..." he murmured before he drifted off to sleep, finally feeling safe again.

* * *

**AN:** Aaww, I couldn't help a little cute fluffy ending. I thought it was time to let them be together again. ´Poor Axel need Roxas XD And I feel bad for Reno -snort- I actually did see such a documentary once X'D  
Well, I hope you enjoyed. But there's more drama on coming. And sorry for the lack of Xemnas, he will be introduced the next chapter. And sorry if I confused you with the Zemyx scene in the middle of everything, I just felt that I had to write that x'D

**Roxas: **Please review? I wanna see Axel's face when he wakes up and I'm there! -**puppy dog eyes**-

You **can't resist** the eyes. That's law.


	14. Chapter 14

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** Well, here it finally is! I'm so sorry for keeping this on a hold for such a long time! But I've had some major problems with ending the chapter, and now when I finished I realized that I wrote about one page more than I use to xD  
Well, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter, I included some characters and you get a bit more background.

**Thanks to:** **Pocket Rainbow,** for beta reading it for me and correcting my mistakes!  
And to **KooriTheSneak**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **Lightest Soul of Dreams**, **SkyeFlyte**, **Kikyo Uchiha**, **Melodious Authoress**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **vamprincessmiyu**, **genocide-bloodshed**, **Fallen Wind Rider**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **gothicgirl2.0**, **Ren13013**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Delayed-Reaction**, **Suna's Assassin**, **Schizzar**, **xXShadowXKissedXx**, **Unmei-Kibou**, **HarrylovesDraco**, **The Infamous Me**, **Soskyler**, **DEADxGONE**, **Mord Sith Matt**, **h0n3ybun **and **Steal My Soul 7767**.

**Warnings:** Boy x boy relationships (AkuRoku, ZackCloud, Zemyx/Dexion), language, violence, future lemons (next chapter? ;3).

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. I'd love to own it though. Think about all incredible yaoi-moments I could get into it.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Axel yawned and groaned as he felt the sun in his eyes. Just great... He didn't want the sun to interrupt his sleep. He was far too comfortable all snuggled up to his warm and cosy... Wait a minute. Since when was his pillow breathing? Since when was his pillow that big? Confusedly he blinked and rubbed his eyes to adjust them to the brightness that had caused him to wake up in the first place.

"Good morning, sleepy head," a soft voice greeted him, just there next to him.

This made Axel open his eyes widely and also open his mouth. His pillow could definitely not talk. Axel knew that pillows couldn't do that!

Roxas snorted before cracking up and starting to laugh, "That face... is totally... priceless!" he choked out and then shook his head as he let out another chuckle and looked at Axel.

At this Axel let out a very uncharacteristic high pitched scream and shoved Roxas out of his bed, making the blonde yelp loudly as he hit the floor with a dull thump. It was simply a reflex. And admit it, who wouldn't be scared of waking up and finding someone in bed, someone who wasn't there when you went to bed?

Roxas blinked as he pushed himself up and looked at Axel with a surprised look on his face. And Axel looked back at Roxas with at least 10 times more surprise but it didn't take long for Axel to let out a squeal and grin as he noticed that yes, it actually was his boyfriend who had been in his bed.

"**ROOOXAAASSS!"** Axel cheerfully yelled at the top of his lungs as he then threw his arms around Roxas and pulled him up into the bed again. Yet another bone crushing hug for Roxas in just a short time, "Holy fuck... What... When... How did you get here?!" he asked with wide eyes, still not letting go of Roxas, "Oh God, it's really you! I've missed you so much!"

Roxas chuckled, "I've missed you too. And I got here yesterday at about 9pm, I figured I'd surprise you... And then I realized it would be even better to see your face in the morning, I didn't expect to be shoved down on the floor though... but I forgive you," he said and licked his lips before softly kissing Axel who hummed.

"Best surprise ever," Axel said and then pulled back a bit to take a look at his blonde who smiled brightly at him, "You... did anything happen in Hollow Bastion?" he then asked with titled head, "Tell Axel about everything, so I don't have to worry," he said with a slight smile on his face.

Roxas sighed but smiled as Axel wrapped his arms around him again. It felt really good to be back.

"Some things have happened since we talked on Saturday," Roxas said and sighed, there was no point in lying to Axel about anything. It would only upset him if the truth came out, "I ran into Olette, a former ex-friend, in a store, and I was really surprised that she hugged me and begged me to forgive her. We walked to her place and talked everything out. So I guess I still have one real friend left in Hollow Bastion," he said and smiled softly, hoping Axel would understand why he had forgiven her so easily.

Axel raised an eyebrow as he eyed Roxas, "Huh?"

"Don't worry, Olette has always been the nice one," Roxas said lightly, "She was the only one who didn't call me something, instead she stood in the back but I saw that she was honestly ashamed of her acting, she's even moving away from there..."

Axel sighed but gave a nod, "Well, that's something good at least."

Roxas nodded and then chuckled, "She wants to come here to make sure she approves of you... And to make sure you're good. I also told her about the rape..." he trailed off with a slight look of discomfort on his face. He had been talking far too much about that lately.

"Did something else happen?" Axel simply asked softly, knowing that Roxas didn't like discussing what had happened.

Roxas sighed and squirmed slightly in his boyfriend's arms, he knew that Axel wouldn't like what he was about to hear next, "I ran into my ex..."

"You did what?!" Axel let out, once more in an unnatural high voice, as he looked at Roxas in horror, not sure he'd like what was going to come from Roxas' mouth.

"On my way back to the hotel he pinned me to a wall... but Cloud thought I had been taking too much time at Olettes, so he saved me," Roxas said with a sigh, "So later I had to explain to Cloud about the rape as well since he demanded an explanation. He really made me feel guilty about some things so I couldn't keep it a secret to him any longer," he groaned and shook his head, "That was quite hard for me, to tell Cloud... But he took it quite well actually."

Axel looked at Roxas with wide eyes before pulling Roxas closer to him and kissed his forehead, "God, I'm so glad that you're all right..." he murmured, "That he... Who knows what could have happened if your brother hadn't shown up... I don't even want to think about what could have happened."

Roxas sighed as he just enjoyed being in Axels arms, he really felt safe this close to Axel. It felt like nothing mattered but them, "Yeah... You can't imagine how happy I am to be back, Hollow Bastion is creepy," he said with another sigh.

"Man, you're happy? Ask Reno and Demyx how I've been acting without you and you'll see what impact you leaving had on me!" Axel said as he stared at Roxas.

Roxas chuckled, "I was only away for a few days Axel..."

Axel pouted as he let go of Roxas and crossed his arms instead, "That's a few days too many." he stated.

"Yeah..." Roxas said lightly as he looked into Axels mesmerizing green eyes, "I won't leave again, for a year at least," Roxas said with a half smile, "So... What's happening here in town?"

Axel sighed, "Kind of complicated things... Marluxia told me that Xemnas, a guy from my past, is back in town, and that isn't good. At all..." he trailed off at the end and kind of avoided eye contact with Roxas, and that worried the blonde.

Roxas frowned as he looked at Axel who looked quite upset, this Xemnas guy couldn't be any good at all, "Why is that?" he asked softly as he looked at Axel.

"I don't really feel like talking about that now, he just messed a lot of things up last time he was here," Axel said with a deep sigh, he seemed slightly tense, "It got quite nasty in many ways and I never thought I'd see him set a foot back in Twilight Town. But I was wrong." he said with a shrug.

Roxas only nodded as he looked at Axel once more, "You know that if you want to talk about it you can tell me, right?" he then asked and Axel just nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Of course I know, Roxas," he said and kissed Roxas' forehead before smiling wider, "What do you say about breakfast?" he then asked as he started to get up from the bed.

Roxas yawned but nodded, "That wouldn't be too bad, I'm starving."

Axel blinked as he looked at Roxas, "You didn't have to wait for me to wake up, you know..." he said with a raised eyebrow as he headed to the closet and started to rummage through it to grab something that would be comfortable, yet presentable. Usually he wouldn't bother; Reno didn't care if Axel was eating in only boxers. But Roxas was there after all.

"I didn't wake up much before than you," Roxas said with a shrug as he picked up his discarded clothes from the night before and started to get dressed in those, "And I didn't mind watching you sleep..." he then said with a smile on his face. It had been quite nice to simply watch Axel sleep. He looked adorable while sleeping.

Axel chuckled, "Well, I **am **very handsome, can't blame you for wanting to look at me," he said with a smug voice as he pulled Roxas out of the bedroom and into the living room. Where they found Reno asleep on the couch. Roxas had to admit that he looked half dead...

"Er..." Axel said with a raised eyebrow as he looked at his dead looking brother.

Roxas smirked and shook his head, "Just let him sleep, God knows for how long he couldn't fall asleep." he said as he started to pull at Axel to make him follow to the kitchen.

"Right, all that coffee..." Axel said and trailed off with a look at his brother as he let out a slight laugh, "It seems he's totally knocked out." he then said with a grin on his face as he started to go through the refrigerator and ended up putting a lot of stuff on the table. Juice, yoghurt, milk, butter, cereal... Well, the list did go on. But Roxas didn't mind, as mentioned previously, he was really hungry.

Then Axel lit up all of a sudden as he saw a black marker lying on the kitchen counter, "I got a great idea..." he said and trailed of as he looked at Roxas, who was preparing a sandwich, with a wide grin on his face.

"Axel..."

"Trust me, it's totally worth it!" Axel snickered as he grabbed the marker and left Roxas in the kitchen.

Said blonde sighed and shook his head as he took a bite of his sandwich. Axel could be so immature from time to time. But well, Roxas loved Axel for who he was.

"Poor Reno..." Roxas said with a sigh but continued eating as he awaited Axels return.

* * *

"Uh... I think the guys wanted to meet up today," Axel said as he put away the last things from the breakfast, "If you feel like it," he then added with a grin on his face.

Roxas grinned, "Well, I guess it's better to suffer from Demyx's glomping today, than tomorrow at school," he said with a chuckle, "And it would be nice to catch up."

Axel nodded and gave a thumbs up, "Then we'll get going soon!"

Roxas smiled but then rolled his eyes, "You just want to escape so Reno doesn't wake up while you're still here..." he said with a raised eyebrow.

The redhead let out a chuckle and then shrugged, "To be honest, Rox, I don't think Reno will notice for a good while! I hope he walks out to see Rude!"

Roxas sighed and shook his head as he stood up and walked out of the kitchen with Axel behind. Said blonde couldn't help throwing a look at Reno who lied on the couch. He shook his head once more and tried not to smile but he couldn't help it. Reno had acquired a moustache, a small beard and his thin red eyebrows were now thick and black. Plus that Axel had drawn eyes on Reno's eyelids.

He snorted before he walked on out to the hall and put his shoes on, "Don't you think you overdid it?" Roxas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, better go full out!" Axel said with a wink as he grabbed his keys and opened up the door, he let Roxas out first, "Ladies first, Rox," he said with a grin on his face. Which only gained him a dirty look from Roxas. Well, it could be so much fun in teasing Roxas.

* * *

"**ROXIIIEEE!"**

Roxas looked in front of him with wide eyes, he kind of regretted saying he'd want to handle Demyx's glomping at this moment. He never wanted to get glomped again! But what could he do? The hyper active brat, even thought they were the same age, was running at him at top speed with wide open arms. Completely ready to take Roxas with him to the floor.

And then it happened. For Roxas it felt like it was in slow motion. He could feel Demyx's arms wrap around him. He felt how Demyx's weight spread all over him. He felt how he slowly started to fall backwards thanks to the loss of balance. And then BAM! It was over. And they lied on the floor. Roxas let out a moan of pain and tiredness as he felt how Demyx kissed his cheek... That was a new move from Demyx.

"Aw, consider yourself a part of the family," Zack cooed, "Not everyone get Demyx's blessing," he said with a grin on his face.

Axel stood in the background and laughed as he hung his jacket up, along with Roxas'. He looked around the room, and it really was the whole gang. They had even managed to get Sora over there as well, and that had been quite some trouble since he thought they would think of him as a bother.

"Roxas!" Sora squealed as he threw himself on Roxas and Demyx, crushing the poor blonde who was on the bottom of the pile.

Then, just for the hell of it, Zack squealed even louder, "GROUP SEX!" and with that he threw himself on the three teens who all screamed when his weight crushed them even more.

"Z-Z-Zack!" Roxas choked out, "G-get off!" he let out as he tried to push the pile of people off of himself.

Axel laughed again in the background and walked up to the pile of people. Both Demyx and Sora were giggling at Roxas who were totally crushed under them. Zack was simply grinning, not bothering to get up.

"But we all missed you soooo much, Roxas!" he cooed.

"Can't... breathe... help...!" Roxas let out with a cough as he searched for some kind of help.

"Okay, okay! Get off of my boyfriend, I want to get him back still breathing!" Axel said when he heard Roxas wheeze for breath, "Now!" he then said a bit more sternly which made Zack push himself up with a sigh.

Sora and Demyx got up from Roxas pretty fast as well, everyone looked down at Roxas who didn't have the energy to even get up yet, "Shit..." he let out and took shuddering breath.

"Sora and Demyx are kind of an interesting combination," Axel said with a grin on his face as he helped Roxas to stand up, "They immediately turned out to be soul mates after a day," he then said and chuckled as Roxas moaned. Oh great!

But Roxas was soon saved by Zack declaring a video game war. Which Roxas declined, he wasn't feeling like playing against a bunch of sugar high kids. Yeah, they all acted like kids. Those people included Axel, Demyx, Sora and Zack.

He sighed and rolled his eyes and sat down in the couch and concentrated on looking at the game. It felt quite good to be back. Even though he was in a house with the most hyper personalities ever.

* * *

"Roxas, we didn't really get any time to talk last time," Marluxia said with a chuckle as he sat down next to Roxas who jumped in surprise at seeing Marluxia next to him just like that. But he composed himself and then smiled.

"Yeah, it was kind of hasty," Roxas said and scratched his head, "But guess there'll be a lot more time to talk from now on, huh?"

Marluxia laughed, "I for sure hope so, you seem nice so I don't think there'll be any problems with us getting to know each other," he lightly said and Roxas nodded, "Well, I wanted to talk to you a bit in private 'cause... I think it's better that I say this than Axel," he said and shook his head with a smile on his face.

Roxas blinked and looked at Marluxia with tilted head, "Huh?"

"I just want you to know that Axel and I were together for a while," he said with a slight smile, "I was the one who insisted to tell you this actually, 'cause knowing Axel he'd say it in the wrong way," Marluxia then said and laughed, "The thing is that when we broke up we were still very close, and we still are. In fact, Roxas, I love Axel..."

Roxas' eyes widened slightly at this statement as he opened his mouth, Marluxia just let out another chuckle.

"I'm not going to steal him away from you, I love him as family," Marluxia said with a smirk on his face and then sighed, "That's why our relationship didn't work out... I just wanted to tell you this so you don't get it the wrong way if we're getting close to each other. There isn't really any personal space between us," he then said with a shrug.

The blonde let out an inner sigh of relief at hearing that. He had almost been scared that Marluxia would try to compete over Axel or something like that.

"Thanks a lot for telling me," Roxas said and smiled, "It's good to know, I guess," he then added.

Marluxia smiled, "Yeah, Axel can be a bit like Demyx when it comes to me and I guess you aren't used to see him behave like that to others. Others than you," he said with a laugh, "Axel has been such a bitch without you," he then added with a wink.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "I clearly got that by messaging with Demyx, and when he called me..."

"Well, it proves that Axel cares a lot... You see..." Marluxia trailed of as he glanced around, Axel was still wrapped up in trying to beat Demyx, Zack and Sora in Mario Kart for Wii, "You didn't hear this from me, and please don't say this to Axel... But he was quite a player for a while, he had quite few one night stands, but he never grew attached to anyone. The most serious relationship he had was with me, and now... I guess you really made an impact on Axel." he said softly.

Roxas only gave a slight nod as he looked at Axel, "I won't say anything," he said, smiling for himself as Axel swore and threw the controller at Demyx when he realized that he was last, "I... I don't care how many persons he has been with before me. It's unimportant..."

Marluxia smiled at this, "I'm happy to hear that, I think Axel is happy he met someone like you, someone he can settle down with and... Oh, I'm sorry, now it sounds like I'm about to plan your lives ahead." he said with a chuckle.

The blonde smiled slightly, "It's all right, I... I'm happy to have met Axel. But sometimes I doubt that I'm the right guy for him..." he said with a soft sigh.

"What do you mean with that?" Marluxia asked with a frown on his face.

Roxas bit his lip as he looked at Axel and the others again, making sure that they were unheard since they weren't sitting too far away from them, "I talked with Axel a little bit about this before, I said that it felt weird since I'm so much less experienced than Axel, I've... I've been into one relationship, a bad one, before. Nothing else. I'm always thinking about what Axel might think about how I'm acting around him and-,"

"Don't worry about those things," Marluxia said and laughed, "I'm sure Axel is getting worried as well, I think he's afraid he'll go too fast with you. He told me how fast you got together and I bet he's afraid of scaring you or something like that," he said with a shrug.

"Scare me? ...It's not like I'm 10 years old!" Roxas said with a frown on his face, "Of course I get slightly nervous in... certain situations. But I'm not going to break. I know that Axel wouldn't do anything against my will, he isn't like Seifer..." he trailed off with a sigh.

Marluxia sighed, he could only guess that it was this Seifer person who had raped Roxas. But Roxas didn't know that Marluxia knew. Would it really hurt to tell Roxas that he knew about it?

"Roxas, uh... Don't get mad now, okay? But I... I know about what happened to you before you moved here," he said and bit his lip, Roxas opened his mouth but Marluxia made sure to start talking before Roxas had time to say anything, "Axel happened to let it out in a weak moment, he didn't say much. He cut himself off but I've always been good at picking stuff up," he said and smiled sheepishly, "and I guess I've got a bad habit of pressuring people to tell me things..."

"S-so... okay," Roxas said, looking a bit paler.

"Oh, don't worry! My lips are sealed, ask Axel about it. When he has something he wants someone to know but to not be spread, then he can tell me. 'Cause I never tell others. This is an exception, since he told me that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but I think you should know." he explained with a thoughtful expression.

Roxas gave a slight nod, "All right, I understand..."

"I don't know if you've realized that Axel is quite tense, he's hiding it quite well but I see it," Marluxia murmured as he looked at Axel who once more had grabbed his game controller, dead set on beating the others.

Roxas nodded with a slight frown on his face, "Yeah... I've noticed that as well. He... he said something about someone called Xemnas, does he have something to do with it?" Roxas asked and looked at Marluxia who now looked very serious.

The pinkette looked at Roxas, "Most likely... Roxas, whatever you do... If you see this man called Xemnas, it isn't hard to point him out. He has long silver hair, and has quite a dark skin colour. If you ever see him. Get away from him." he quietly said, not letting go of his eye contact with Roxas.

"Why is that?" Roxas asked with wide eyes.

"Just trust me about this. You have no idea what he's capable of doing. If he manages to get his hands on you... It would kill Axel. He'd never be able to forgive himself if Xemnas did something to you..."

Roxas gulped but nodded, if it sounded that serious he didn't feel any need to meet this Xemnas person, "What did he do?"

Marluxia shook his head with a worried face expression, "Don't tell Axel, he blames himself for it enough all ready... Xemnas killed Xaldin; he was a part of our gang. And Larxene, quite a character, was badly hurt. She's in a coma, has been for one year now," Marluxia said and shook his head, "Axel was there and couldn't do anything. Xemnas wanted to break Axel down by letting him watch. Axel couldn't save Xaldin in time, he... he got to Larxene though, but since she's not awake yet..." he sighed deeply and pulled a hand trough his hair, "Axel is feeling extremely guilty about this. And now that Xemnas is back, he's scared."

Roxas looked at Marluxia with wide eyes. He had no idea that it had been that serious. He thought it simply had been some typical teenage fighting. Not killing!

"Hey, what's going on?" Axel suddenly asked from behind, looking at Roxas who still looked at Marluxia with wide eyes, "What did you do to my boyfriend, Marly?" he asked with a laugh.

Marluxia blinked and then smiled, "Oh, I think he just was a bit shocked by the fact that I told him we used to be together!" he said and chuckled, "Can't blame him though, right? We are quite different." he then said with a look at Roxas.

Roxas collected himself, smiled and let out a laugh, "Yeah, that was quite a surprise!" he said and smiled, "Marluxia just finished telling me that, since _you_ apparently would say it in the wrong way. And I think he's right!"

"Hey! That's unfair, I would not say it the wrong way!" Axel said with a pout on his face.

Marluxia rolled his eyes, "You even agreed with me about that, Axel," he dryly said which made Axel frown and then sigh as he wrapped his arms around Roxas and kissed his cheek several times.

"I hope your outlook on me doesn't change," Axel then said and kissed him again.

Roxas smiled softly and let out a slight giggle when Axel decided to snuggle Roxas, and the long spiky hair tickled him. And Roxas was ticklish. Very ticklish, "O-of course not!" Roxas said and let out another uncharacteristic giggle.

Axel raised an eyebrow as he lifted his head from Roxas and looked at the blonde who was stopping his giggling, "Ooh, Roxas... Are you... ticklish?" he asked with wide eyes and a grin on his face.

Roxas blinked, "Uh... Yeah, I am, but what does tha-,"

"TICKLE TIME!" Axel shouted and threw himself on Roxas and started running his fingers along Roxas' sides which made the blonde scream in terror before he started to violently laugh and squirm as Axel unmercifully kept tickling him. There was no escape from Axels evil claws. He only managed to get them both to roll down on the floor.

Everyone had turned from what they were doing. Sora, Demyx and Zack forgot their game match and turned their attention to the screaming blonde. Zexion even put away his book to watch the commotion.

"HELP!" Roxas screamed as he tried to crawl away but without success since his laughing made him lose his breath so he laughed and in-between he sharply inhaled air to not suffocate by his own laughing, "H-he-help!" he pleaded once more before bursting out laughing when Axel started to tickle his feet, "N-n-no!" he let out while he tried to kick Axel.

"Help me! Hold him down!" Axel said with a look on Zack, the raven haired male grinned and hurried to the rescue. Well, he rescued Axel from getting kicked by Roxas, "Hold his arms!" he then said as he crawled up and straddled Roxas' legs to get better access to the blonde, "Beg for mercy! You petty mortal soul!" he said with an evil cackling laugh.

"NEVER!" Roxas yelled.

"Oh-ho! Then you're going to get it!" Axel said and dived down on Roxas who shrieked in fear of Axels long fingers.

"Operation... SAVE ROXAS!" Demyx yelled at the top of his lungs and grabbed a pillow from the couch and ran at Axel and Zack and started to pummel them with the pillow, "Sora, help me save Roxy!" he then screamed and the brunette was soon up on his legs with a pillow of his own, hitting Zack and Axel with all he was worth.

"Feathers in bags can't hurt us!" Axel said and grinned as he let his fingers slip in under Roxas' shirt, directing his tickling on Roxas' bare skin.

Roxas let out another shriek, "G-get your hands out of my sh-shirt!" he said with a red face, not red as in blushing, he was getting red out of exhaustion.

"Nuh-uh!"

"RAWR!" Demyx let out a mighty roar and dropped the pillow which had ripped, resulting in a lot of feathers around them. Instead he threw himself on Axels back which made the redhead collapse on top of Roxas, but he still had his hands in Roxas' shirt. And he just had to wiggle his fingers to make Roxas laugh even more. The poor blonde was laughing to the point that he was crying at the same time.

All of a sudden the door opened up, making everyone freeze in their movements. Angeal stood in the doorway, with a raised eyebrow.

"Zachary..."

"A-Angeal!" Zack let out and grinned at the older man, the man who actually was their PE teacher. And also a kind of parental figure for Zack, since his own parents were in Gongaga, "...How are you?!" he asked, still holding Roxas to the floor. The blonde was gasping for air, still letting out weak laughs since he was all tingly from the tickling.

"I was going to check on you as usual... I wonder what your mother would think of her responsible son having feathers all over the living room and... Maybe I'll come back later," he said with a smirk on his face.

"N-no!" Roxas choked out, still lying beneath Axel and Demyx, "Get them away!"

Angeal blinked and frowned as he looked at the mop of blonde hair that was sticking out from the pile of people, "Boys... What are you doing?"

"It's operation save Roxas from Zack and Axel!" Demyx cried out, "Axel is going to tickle him to death!" he said and then grinned.

"S-save me!" Roxas desperately said.

Angeal sighed and wandered over to the pile and easily pulled Zack up and then just had to glare at Demyx to make him get off of Axel. Axel on the other hand purred and kissed Roxas' forehead, hands still in his shirt.

"You look pretty damn fine when you're all flushed and sweaty..." he said with a smirk which earned a death glare from Roxas.

Roxas moaned, "If I... wasn't this tired... I'd so kill you..." he muttered.

"Enough, Axel, get up and help him, as a good boyfriend should," Angeal sternly said which caused Axel to sigh but he got up from the floor none the less, and helped Roxas up as well. And he even had to support Roxas since his legs were shaking from all the tickling.

"Tickling equals torture to me!" Roxas hissed and elbowed Axel, straight into his ribs.

"Ow! Angeal! Tell him to stop!" Axel whined as he looked at Angeal.

But Angeal only smirked and shook his head before he crossed his arms, "No, unfortunately you deserved it. You better make it up." he then said and grinned evilly.

"You know, you can be scary sometimes..." Zack said with a raised eyebrow as he looked at Angeal.

Angeal looked back at Zack, "That's why your mother chose me to keep checking in on you, who knows which alley you would be sitting in without me scaring you your whole life, puppy," he said and with that he turned around as he walked for the door, "I expect you to come by sometime!"

"Yeah, sure! And I'm not a puppy!" Zack shouted, and then the sound of a door closing made him shut up and sigh, "Man..."

"Rox, you aren't mad at me, riiight?" Axel asked with a sheepish smile on his face.

Roxas sighed and rolled his eyes, "You're lucky that I'm letting you off the hook so easy. But don't expect me to get into your bed any time soon again," he then added with a glare.

"What is it that I hear?" Demyx sang out, "Something about Roxy in Axels bed?"

Roxas groaned, "I got home yesterday, and Cloud dropped me of at Axels place so I got into his bed while he was asleep and didn't wake him up..."

"I was so damn surprised when I saw him in my bed!" Axel exclaimed with a grin on his face.

The blonde crossed his arms, "So surprised that he shrieked and shoved me out of his bed," he stated with a glare.

Demyx bit his lip to stifle a laugh, "Wh-what?"

"Aw, Rox, you know I didn't mean to!" Axel said, "I was shocked! I'm not used to waking up to find someone in my bed just like that! Wouldn't you be surprised if you woke up one morning and all of a sudden I lied there?" he defended himself.

Roxas sighed but then smiled slightly, "Yeah, I know," he said and then shook his head to clear his mind, "But please try to keep your hands away from me if you ever get the urge to tickle someone again..."

"Sorry that we couldn't help you," Sora said with a grin on his face.

"I give you permission to hit, scratch and bite him next time," Roxas said with a wink that made Sora giggle.

"Your words hurt me deeply, Roxas!" Axel said, with much drama, and fell into Marluxias lap, "Marly, I'm dying...!"

The pink haired man looked down at Axel with a raised eyebrow, "Please, could you try to die in someone else's lap?" he asked with a frown on his face.

Axel shook his head violently, "And here I thought you cared for me!"

Zexion snorted and shook his head. Sometimes he didn't see why he spent his valuable time (which could be spent by reading millions of interesting books) with these idiots. But well, he loved Demyx. And being with all of these people always meant something fun.

"Axel, the drama queen, has entered the building!" Zack said and pointed at Axel.

"I'm no queen!" Axel huffed, "I'm all Axel!"

"Same thing!" Zack said with a wink.

Roxas laughed and shook his head as he looked at his childish boyfriend. Yeah, he wouldn't change all this for anything, even though Axel might get a bit sadistic now and then.

* * *

Cloud sighed as he looked down into his empty coffee cup. It was a usual routine for him... He got up about 5 am every morning since he had problems sleeping. He used his time to shower, get dressed properly, eat breakfast and then he'd wait for an hour or two before he started to make Roxas' breakfast. Then he'd shout at Roxas until he got up. He'd watch Roxas eat his breakfast as he himself would drink a cup of coffee and read the news. After this it was time for work. Then he'd get home. He'd clean. Make food. Then sit by the table. And it was at those moments he ended up staring into an empty coffee cup.

With a bitter expression he shook his head and let go of the cup. He watched it fall, slowly, on the floor. It felt like it took forever before it hit the floor and shattered into hundreds of small pieces. He felt a need to break his routine. He wanted to break free. He wanted to let out a lot of suppressed feelings but he didn't know how to do it.

He sighed once more as he looked at the shards on the floor. What had that changed, really? Now they had one cup less than before. Nothing more than that had changed. As if a coffee cup had the power to change his life!

"Cloud, you're going insane..." he muttered to himself as he pushed himself up from the chair to then kneel down and start picking up the pieces of glass.

"Yeah, considering you're talking to yourself you might be right," an amused voice said from behind which made Cloud yelp in surprise and clench his fist around the piece of glass, this in turn made him gasp to drop the now bloodied glass piece. The voice behind gasped as well, "Oh, shit, Cloud!"

"Z-Zack!" Cloud stuttered out and turned his head to look at the raven haired man. Yeah, he could refer to Zack as man since he was about to turn 19, "Wha-... How?!"

"I thought I'd come by and see what you were up to," Zack softly said and then kneeled down beside Cloud, "Hey, how is that hand?" he then asked with a worried expression.

Cloud blinked and looked down at his bleeding hand and then up at Zack again, "Uh..."

"Here, let me see," Zack said and helped Cloud up from the floor and then pushed him down into a chair before gently grabbing Clouds wounded hand. Cloud let out a hiss as Zack ran a thumb along the deep cut, "Sorry, that seems to hurt quite a bit... Where do you keep first aid?" he then asked and Cloud simply pointed at a cupboard, it only took a few seconds for Zack to get it.

"Zack..."

"Shush, let me do this, Cloud," he said with a small smile on his face and then went on with cleaning the cut before putting a band aid on it and then wrapping it in a few layers of bandage.

Cloud sighed as he let Zack tend to the cut, even though he didn't like being babied he had a feeling that it was pointless trying to argue with Zack about such a thing. And besides, it was quite nice of him to be so caring.

After a while Zack smiled and sat down on the chair beside Clouds, "There, done!"

"How did you get here?" Cloud tiredly asked, he looked quite miserable for some reason.

"Through the door, stupid," Zack replied with a slight laugh.

"Zack, I'm not in the mood for jokes," he murmured and shook his head before tiredly looking at Zacks face. The raven haired male looked worried now.

"Is something wrong, Cloud?" Zack cautiously asked, slightly afraid to make the older, but smaller, man close up and refuse to talk. He knew that Cloud wasn't much for talking about sensitive things, but maybe he would with him, if he could just get him to open up.

Cloud shrugged and stood up and headed for a closet where he got a broom and started to brush the glass pieces into a small pile, "Why should it be?" he quietly asked before he shoved it all into the trash can and then put the broom back into its cupboard.

Zack sighed, "I'm not stupid, Cloud. There's no point in trying to fool me," he said and looked at Clouds back, "Come on, you know you can talk to me! Isn't there anything between us? You can't deny that-,"

"Please, Zack, stop it!" Cloud cried out and turned around to look at Zack, "I... I don't know if I can handle being in a relationship right now! I can barely take care of my own brother and myself!" he said and slammed his unharmed hand into a wall, "I discovered some things about Roxas a few days ago... I should have known, I should have been able to tell what was wrong but I-,"

"Cloud, you aren't all knowing! You're doing your best and I'm sure that Roxas appreciates you a lot," Zack said firmly, "No one expects you to be perfect," he added with a shrug.

Cloud turned around again and shook his head, "I'm not enough, he can't trust me, Zack," he murmured and bit his lip, "I'll never be the same thing as our parents were for him," he added sadly.

The raven haired male sighed and shook his head as he stood up and walked up to him, wrapping his arms around Cloud from behind, "Of course you can't, you're his brother. He doesn't need you to be a parent," he said with a sigh, "Do you think he'd be happier in another family?"

Cloud sighed and shook his head, "No..."

"Exactly, if you hadn't shown up there would have been a big chance that he would have closed himself up from everyone," Zack said and rested his head and Clouds shoulder, "You must stop being so hard on yourself, Cloudy," he then softly said.

"Maybe..."

"No, not maybe," Zack said and turned Cloud around, "You have to. I'll be here and tell you this as much as I can. You're amazing, Cloud. You're friendly, you care about those close to you... Don't tell me you aren't enough. We had this kind of talk a while ago, remember?"

Cloud nodded and actually relaxed in Zacks arms, tiredly letting his head rest against Zacks chest, "I remember that clearly..." he said softly, "You were supposed to keep your hands to yourself..."

Zack chuckled, "Yeah, and I did, right?" he asked with a wink.

"Until you insisted on sleeping in my bed," Cloud dryly said with a slight blush on his face.

"I never heard you complain!" Zack defended himself, "You seemed to be pretty content with it, from my point of view at least!"

Cloud smiled weakly, "Yeah, it was quite nice..."

"So, what do you say? Is there something between us?" Zack then murmured and stroke a misplaced spike away from Clouds face.

"I... I think so... I haven't really been a relationship person but... you know, you make me feel happy," he murmured and hid his face in Zacks chest to not show his blush.

"Aw, you're getting all mushy!" Zack cooed and pulled Cloud even closer to him, if that was even possible.

Cloud made a sound of protest but didn't push himself away from Zack. He could probably stay in his arms forever if it was possible.

* * *

Both Axel and Roxas stood still as they looked in through a window. Soon Axel cleared his throat, "You think it would be awkward to just run in on them?" he asked with a glance at Roxas.

Roxas gave a slight nod, "I think so... I think Cloud would feel very awkward..." he said and then looked at Axel, "Do you mind if I go home with you for a while?" he asked with his puppy dog eyes.

"Hm, I'm not so sure about that..." Axel said with a frown on his face and pretended to really think deeply about it, "Maybe if I-,"

Axel got cut off by Roxas standing up on the tip of his toes to then capture Axels lips in a soft but nice kiss. Axel couldn't help letting out a sound of satisfaction from this, he liked that Roxas wasn't afraid to kiss him in public. The blonde had been a bit fidgety at first, but seemed to be a lot better now. After a few seconds Roxas pulled back again and looked at Axel once more.

"What do you say?" he asked seductively.

"If you give me some more of that, then you're more than welcome!" Axel said and without warning scooped Roxas up in his arms and despite loud protests from the blonde he didn't let him down, "Don't fight it, my love, or I'll start serenading you here on the street!" he threatened and it made Roxas shut up to then burst out laughing in Axels arms. Axel couldn't help laughing as well. Neither of them could picture him standing on his knees, singing love songs for all he was worth.

Eventually Axel let Roxas down, hand in hand they walked towards Axels place, both happily talking and laughing all the way. Not a worry about what was lurking somewhere behind them.

"So you've found yourself a new toy..." a mysterious voice coldly said, watching the happy couple make their way to Axels place, "This could be proved to be very interesting, what do you say, Saïx?" the owner of the voice asked with a glance at his blue haired partner,

"Most certainly, Xemnas," Saïx replied with a monotone voice, "Most certainly."

"Let us get back, we need to make some plans..." the one named Xemnas said.

"Of course," the blue haired man gave a slight bow as they then quietly left the place. He walked half a meter behind Xemnas.

Xemnas smirked and shook his head, "Axel will never be able to love or feel again when I'm done with his new little toy..."

* * *

**A/N:** Ooooh! The evil Xemnas have spotted Roxas! Could you guess that it had been so serious as killing someone, hm? And I am surprised that I decided to make Larxene a part of the good guys, I figured out she'd be the bitch in the gang. But well, will she wake up? That's up for the future to see.

And... There might be some AkuRoku smex! I want to write a lemon! XD

**Axel: **DID YOU HEAR THAT?! **Review for the love of lemons! **REVIEW!

**Roxas:** What?! H-hey! Don't I get a say in this?! D:

**Axel: **Hmm... Nope!

**Roxas: **I didn't see anything about this in my contract!

**Axel: **You have to read the fine printed part as well! The part written on the backside with such small text that you need a magnifying glass to read!


	15. Chapter 15

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** Fiiiinallyyyy. I'm sorry for keeping you guys on hokd for such a long time Well, I finished it today, and I sent it to my beta (Pocket Rainbow), unfortunately she didn't have time to fix everything so it has been beta read from page 1 to 9. And the chapter is totally 13 pages long, so there might be some errors.  
**Important notice. CONTEST TIME!!  
**Yes, some of you might already know about this, but I'm having a contest for this fic. You're supposed to draw something that you want to happen in the story. I'll judge by creativity and idea. The winner will get their scene put into the fic. It can be sad, funny, romantic, scary... Your choice! I also told the people on dA (for ones who can't draw or don't feel like it) that it is okay to write a small fic with a scene. But take in mind that I prefer drawings!  
Deadline will be the **28th of September**. Send me a PM/review if you wonder something!

**Thanks to: Pocket Rainbow **(for beta reading the story and being awesome 8D).  
And to **Schizzar**, **keiyoku**, **What About Today**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **gothicgirl2.0**, **Melodious Authoress**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **lovetheHams**, **Ally Montgomery**, **PoisenedKisses**, **The Infamous Me**, **Ren13013**, **Renkin-chan**, **Crimson wounds**, **FatFreeBacon** and **KooriTheSneak**. Thanks for reviewing! And sorry if I haven't replied, Internet Explorer has gone nuts on me. But I use Firefox or Google Chrome now, so hopefully there will be no problems now!

**Warnings: **Sex. Yes, you heard me. Here's the damned lemon that have been killing me to write. Gah. Sex, language... Stuff. Basically this is when the story makes itself deserved of its M-rating. **Lemons for the people!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Heart and unfortunately I never will. -stalks of to stalk people at Square Enix and Disney-

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"Mmnn..." Axel let out as he fumbled with the handle of the door, currently lip-locked with his boyfriend, making the task of getting into the apartment a hell of a lot harder, "Damn it, key..." he muttered when he parted from Roxas to get some air, but they soon were locked in a heated kiss again, at the same time Axel fumbled in his pockets for the key.

"Mom! Can boys kiss?!" a voice was suddenly heard and both Axel and Roxas jumped about one meter up in the air when they heard the childish voice, they had no idea that they were being watched.

A woman blinked and turned to look at the two boys who still were standing very close to each other with wide eyes and open mouths, a very small string of saliva still connected their lips, though.

"U-uh..." the woman nervously let out and looked at her daughter and back at Axel and Roxas, "Of course, darling!" she then said with a frown.

The girl looked at Axel with wide eyes, "Is uncle Axel together with that boy?" she asked with a tilted head as she pointed at Roxas.

Axel let out a laugh and ruffled Roxas' hair, "Yeah, Casey, this is my boyfriend, Roxas!" he said and kissed Roxas' forehead, "Am I not a bit too young to be called uncle, huh?" he then asked with a raised eyebrow.

The girl looked at them with wide eyes and then giggled, "Are you going to get kids?" she then asked which made both Axel and Roxas burst out laughing.

"Yeah, of course. Tons of them!" Axel said and grinned as he looked at Roxas, "You can be the mother, and I the father, 'cause you're cuter than me!"

"Honey, why don't you go out to your father? He's in the car," the woman said with a bothered smile and the girl whined but then sighed and skipped out, leaving the two teens with the mother. Alone. Roxas felt quite awkward.

"I'm sorry if I just mentally scarred your daughter, Tyra," Axel apologetically said with a sheepish smile on his face, "If my darn key just..." he trailed of when he saw the woman, now known as Tyra, hold up a key.

"It's all right, Axel," she said lightly and smirked, "I think she can handle it. But dear, try to keep track of your key, I found it lying around this morning," she then stated and threw him the key.

"You're an angel!" Axel called as Tyra waved and then exited the building to get into a car with her husband and daughter.

Roxas let out a sigh and laugh of relief, "Oh man, kids..."

"Well, it could have been old man Kirk on the other side, then we'd have been in for hell," Axel said with a grin on his face as he unlocked the door and pushed Roxas inside to then lock the door behind them, "But talk about mood-killer, right?" he then added with a chuckle which made Roxas smile weakly as they both took their shoes of.

Roxas sighed as he threw a look at the mirror in the hall way. A post-it note was put on it.

"Axel..." he said and trailed of as he couldn't help smirking, "Reno left you a message..." he said and pointed at the note.

Axel blinked as he straightened up and looked the way Roxas pointed...

"_Nice move, Ax, expect revenge sometime soon. Be happy that I in fact did notice it before I left home, otherwise I would have skinned you alive and fed the ducks with your remains, looking forward to seeing you, bro._

_P.S. Won't be back until early morning. Going out with Rude._

_  
P.P.S. I took the leftovers. Too bad for you._

_P.P.P.S. Could you make some more of that pasta? Pwease?_" Axel read the note aloud and then let out a laugh.

"This is so Reno!" Axel exclaimed and ripped the note away, "First threatening me, and then begging me to make him more food... Aw, well... Can't let him starve," he then said with a shrug.

Roxas chuckled as he followed Axel into the living room, where Axel pretty much threw himself onto the couch and let out a sigh of relief. Roxas raised an eyebrow as he walked up to the couch and looked down at his boyfriend.

"Too much Demyx," Axel said with a wink and the opened up his arms widely, "Come to Axel!"

Roxas rolled his eyes but shrugged before climbing onto the couch, settling down on top of Axel, "Aren't you clingy?" he asked softly and smiled as Axel grinned and wrapped his arms around Roxas.

"That's 'cause I've missed hugging you so much! And I wanna take all the time I have with you before school tomorrow!" he purred into Roxas' ear, "I won't be able to molest you as much as I want to since you got most lessons with Dem and Sora," he said with a pout on his face.

Roxas smiled and then ran his fingers over Axels cheek, carefully taking in the feeling of the tattoos under his eyes, "Did it hurt?" he asked all of a sudden with a tilt of the head, still running his fingers over the soft skin.

Axel blinked before he got what Roxas meant by it, "Nah, not so much," he said with a shrug, enjoying the feeling of Roxas' fingers touching his face, "And it didn't take long to get them done."

"What about the piercing?" Roxas then asked as his fingers slipped up to carefully poke the piercing, which he actually hadn't paid much attention to earlier, but now all of a sudden he was very fascinated, or was it that he simply wanted a good excuse to keep touching Axel in this way? Or well... He knew that Axel wouldn't need an excuse for letting Roxas keep touching him like that.

"That hurt quite a bit," Axel said, looking at Roxas' face, "But I got a pretty high pain threshold so it was nothing," he then added with a smile.

"Huh," Roxas let out and twisted the piercing around and then let it go before running his fingers down to Axels lips for some reason, "I thought about getting a piercing once... I never did it for some reason though... I wanted two even," he lightly explained.

"Oh?" Axel said with a surprised expression, "Sounds nice, where did you want them?" he asked and kissed Roxas' finger tips as they ran over his lips.

Roxas smiled as he felt Axels soft lips against his fingers, "I wanted one in my ear, and one in my eyebrow... Maybe I'll do it someday, I just have to drag my lazy ass over to a place to get it done," he said with a chuckle.

"I think it would look good on you," Axel said in a murmur, still enjoying Roxas' touch, he then gently pulled Roxas' face closer, until it was only millimetres away. Roxas could feel Axels warm breath tickle his skin.

"I..." Roxas let out but didn't bother finishing his sentence before he felt his lips meet Axels in a soft and delicate kiss. And both of them were sure to take their good time to explore each others mouths after a while. It was with a clattering of teeth colliding that they parted once more, both of them looking into each others eyes with such passion that it pretty much radiated from them.

"Roxas... This might not be such a good idea..." Axel murmured as he licked his lips to then look into Roxas' eyes, "You know; the clock-tower incident..." he then added.

"I don't care," Roxas breathlessly said and kissed Axel again, this of course caused the redhead to blink in surprise as he returned the kiss which was soon broken.

Axel just looked at Roxas, "Wha? You... you're saying that you... but the Seifer thing and-,"

"I love you, Axel," Roxas murmured and closed his eyes briefly, "I love you, I trust you and I know that you aren't even close to being the same kind of person as Seifer," he softly murmured and opened his eyes again.

Axel smiled at Roxas and pulled the blonde into a kiss, a kiss which Roxas gladly participated in. If it was something he could do forever it was kissing Axel. It was such an amazing feeling.

Roxas had been about to close his eyes when he felt that Axel was moving, more correctly... he was sitting up. And soon Roxas found himself standing up, arms wrapped around Axel. Axels tongue in his mouth. Axels arms around him. And then they stumbled their way towards Axels bedroom, kissing each other, and clinging to each other as if it was the last time they'd ever be able to see each other.

"Mmnnh..." Roxas couldn't help moaning into the kiss.

"You're so damn hot..." Axel murmured as he managed to kick the door shut as they stumbled in, pretty much falling onto the bed, "God I love you..."

"'m not God..." Roxas managed to say in between a kiss, and I can tell you there wasn't much time in-between their kisses.

Next time they parted Axel looked down at Roxas for a longer while, "You're right... You're so damn much better," he murmured before he lowered himself down, carefully nibbling on Roxas' lower lip before looking at him again, "Remember, any time... say stop, and I'll stop whatever it is I'm doing," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, now get back here," Roxas impatiently said and yanked at Axels shirt, "And it's getting hot..."

Axel smirked as he let his hands run along Roxas' chest, down to the hem of his shirt, "Well, we can always do something about that, right?" he asked seductively as he slowly started to pull the shirt up, and with some help from Roxas the shirt was soon off of him, leaving Roxas bare chested, to Axels delight. Sure he had seen the blonde pretty much naked, but he was smart enough to not stare in the changing rooms. For Roxas' sake.

Roxas let out a sharp gasp as all of a sudden he felt something warm and wet meet the sensitive skin around a nipple, it felt kind of strange, but even weirder; it felt damn good. Roxas let out a loud moan as Axel let his tongue play across the hardening nipple, after a while he moved over to the other. Someone knew what he was doing... And Roxas did not complain, no. Roxas was in another world for the moment. And even if he would have wanted to say stop, his quiet moans stopped him from doing so...

"Roxas... Damn you sound hot," Axel let out a slight groan as he shifted and he felt how his pants were growing uncomfortably small and tight in certain areas, "Shit..." he let out and shifted again before kissing Roxas, he could feel how Roxas' hands ran from his hair, down his back and then he grabbed at the end of Axels shirt as well.

"Unfair..." Roxas murmured, "I'm not going to be the only one to undress..." he said with his eyes directed at Axels as he started pulling the shirt, getting some minor problems when he reached Axels head, that spiky hair really wanted to get stuck in the shirt. Or vice versa...

Axel let out a low chuckle as he threw away the shirt and then let his hands run over Roxas' chest, as he felt the blonde run his own hands across Axels. Of course he noticed that Roxas wasn't experienced... But he didn't do anything wrong. And Axel would rather do this with an inexperienced Roxas than anyone else.

"Just relax," Axel murmured, he knew that Roxas was feeling nervous, and he didn't blame the blonde, "I swear I'm going to be careful," he then promised as his hands slowly made their way down to Roxas' pants, where they occupied themselves with trying to get the belt off, he leant in to kiss Roxas during the time he fiddled with the belt, which wasn't that complicated.

"I'm relaxing," Roxas murmured in protest with a pout on his face as he felt how his pants were loosened and then pulled off, leaving him in his underwear. Normally it would have been cold, lying on top of the blankets in only underwear, but the situation made things a lot more... hot.

Axel smirked as he eyed Roxas' choice of underwear. It was those blue boxers with frogs on them. Roxas rolled his eyes, with a blush on his face, as he looked up at Axels face.

"Say anything about my underwear and you'll find yourself a blonde shorter," he said dryly with a raised eyebrow which only made Axel chuckle as he dived down to kiss Roxas again, "I know you-mmnnph!" Yeah, Roxas was interrupted by the kiss. He didn't mind.

"Your underwear is sexy," Axel said in a low and seductive voice, "But unfortunately I think they won't be able to stay on much longer..." he then added as he slowly let his fingers run down Roxas' chest until they ended up above his underwear, "Or what do you say?" he then asked, voice heavy with passion.

Roxas gasped as the fingers played over his sensitive skin, "I-I say you should get rid of your pants as well," he murmured as he moved his own hands down to Axels belt. Which proved to be quite difficult to get off. Especially when Axel decided to dip down on top of him to start putting feather light kisses along Roxas' collarbone. It felt good, but it was one of the many extra sensitive spots on Roxas so it made him moan and almost loose grip of the belt several times, before he finally managed to open it up. Then the fly was zipped down, and soon Axel was wriggling his way out of his pants. And let me tell you this... Axels underwear wasn't much better.

Roxas couldn't help letting out a small giggle, "Rainbows, Axel?"

"Hell yeah, fag all the way," he answered before sucking on Roxas' collarbone while he let a hand trail up to one of the blonde's nipples, once more making Roxas moan in pleasure.

"Axel... Y-you damn t-tease," Roxas stuttered out and gasped as Axel rubbed his knee against Roxas' arousal without any warning, "Cheap!" he choked out.

"Ooops, didn't mean to," Axel whispered with a smirk on his face, and hell was he a bad liar.

Roxas rolled his eyes and moaned as Axel shifted, his knee still rubbing against him, and adding that Axel still was kissing him and running his fingers all over Roxas'... it made Roxas feel so god damn hot. It felt like he was on fire, and Axel just made that fire grow stronger.

"Let's see if we can get rid of some more clothing," Axel murmured and with a look into Roxas' eyes he carefully, and teasingly, pulled the blonds boxers down, soon leaving Roxas' exposed form for him to see.

Roxas couldn't help blushing, but somehow he doubted that Axel could see that he was blushing. He was already hot and flushed from both embarrassment and from pleasure. Probably more from pleasure though.

"You're sexy," Axel murmured into Roxas' ear as he let his hand travel down, further down than it ever had been before, and then he carefully grabbed Roxas' erection, making the teen gasp in surprise at the touch, "Remember what I told you..."

"Don't... stop..." Roxas murmured as he tangled his fingers into Axels hair to pull the redhead into a heated kiss, "And please... no more teasing," he then pleaded, feeling the need to get on with it, he was painfully hard. And he was sure that Axel was hard as well.

"I just need to loosen you up, ya know?" Axel murmured as he lied down flat, across Roxas, to reach over to the table beside his bed, he opened the drawer and pulled out a small tube. Roxas immediately knew what it was, even though he hadn't used it... He had to admit that he had read some stuff about sex. Gay sex more specifically... And he recognized the tube as lube. Whaaat? He had known it only had been a question of time before he and Axel would do it! Of course he had read some stuff, you have no idea what kind of things.

Axel then gently parted Roxas' legs and slipped further down, he looked up at Roxas, "You know, this might feel, or more likely WILL feel freaky for a while, but I don't want to hurt you later so-,"

"Yeah, I know," Roxas impatiently said, probably 'cause he actually was feeling nervous, "Just get going, please, Axel," he murmured, still feeling embarrassed over having Axel between his legs.

"Okay then," Axel said with a reassuring smile before putting lube on a few fingers and then he carefully started to push the tip of a finger into Roxas who nibbled on his own lip, adjusting to the strange feeling, "Are you okay?" the redhead asked, after he had pushed most of his finger inside of Roxas.

Roxas nodded quickly, "Yeah, I'm fine," he said and felt the heat spread over his face, once more he was glad about being red for several reasons.

Axel gave a slight nod and then leant up to Roxas and softly kissed him as he at the same started to slowly move the finger out to then push it inside again, he repeated this motion several times as he kissed Roxas to distract him.

"I'm going to add a finger..." Axel murmured in-between their kissing, then he captured Roxas' lips again, and as he had said he slowly inserted the second finger as well, making Roxas squirm a little bit under Axel, but he didn't make any sounds. Or well, they might have been drowned by Axel kissing Roxas, "It will feel good soon."

"Yeah, I kno-Ah!" Roxas let out a loud moan with wide eyes as he felt a jolt of pleasure course through his body when Axels fingers hit a certain spot, the certain spot was, more specifically, his prostate.

Axel smirked as he looked at Roxas' face, he had looked surprised as hell, but the surprise had been exchanged with pleasure, "Bingo," Axel smugly said as he shifted a bit and angled his fingers to once more hit Roxas' prostate.

"A-ah! A-Axel!" Roxas cried out.

"See, I do know what I'm doing," Axel seductively said with a wink that Roxas probably didn't catch since he was still feeling the waves of pleasure run through him.

Roxas let out another moan as Axel kept to, by now a lot faster, push the fingers in, to then take them out, and not much later Axel had added a third finger... This made Roxas let out a low whine, now THAT was hurting a bit. After all, fingers weren't really meant to be in that place...

"Sorry," Axel apologetically said as he stopped moving his fingers to give Roxas some time to adjust to the strange feeling of being stretched out.

"N-no, just... it's all right," Roxas stuttered out, "I'm fine, I was just surprised..."

Axel gave a doubtful look but after a couple of seconds of staring at the blonde who stubbornly stared back he sighed and then shifted as he slowly started to move his fingers again. If he wanted to make it feel better for Roxas later on, it was no idea in just moving onto pushing himself into Roxas, even though he was very hard. Painfully hard, actually.

"A-aah..." Roxas let out a softer moan this time, as Axels fingers once more brushed against his prostate, making the pleasure level rise a little bit over the pain and discomfort. Now, if the redhead could just keep doing that it would be fantastic.

Axel smirked as he watched Roxas squirm in pleasure as he directed his fingers at Roxas' prostate. How long had he longed for doing this with Roxas? Well, the wait had been worth it. If Roxas had wanted to wait for a year... Axel would have patiently waited. Or well, maybe not patiently...

"Roxas, I'm going to enter now..." Axel then said with a low and husky voice as he removed his fingers, "Do you think you're ready?" he asked as he grabbed the tube of lube and prepared himself, to make it easier on Roxas who was panting slightly.

"Y-yeah, I want you," he breathlessly said, "Right now, just enter, fast please..." he mumbled, feeling strangely empty now that the fingers weren't inside of him.

Axel smiled softly and leant down to passionately kiss Roxas before re-positioning himself once more, "As you wish," he murmured and with that he slowly pushed himself into Roxas.

The blonde's breath hitched and he tensed up as he closed his eyes which in turn made Axel stop moving.

"Baby, you need to relax," Axel murmured as he let a hand sneak down to Roxas' own erection and he gently wrapped his fingers around it, maybe that would give the blonde something else to think of, "Or it will just hurt more," he added as he looked at Roxas who slowly opened his eyes again. The blonde nodded and took a deep breath and then visibly relaxed as much as possible.

"Good," Axel murmured and kissed Roxas once more before he slowly started to push the rest of the way into him. Axel couldn't help letting out a low moan of pleasure as he pushed himself deeper into Roxas, it felt torturing yet satisfying, "G-God..." he stuttered out as he had finally been buried whole into Roxas.

"How's it... going?" Axel murmured as he looked at Roxas who was taking deep breaths, trying to adjust to being filled with something bigger than the fingers that previously had been inside of him.

"J-just give me some time..." Roxas whispered as he sucked in another breath. Yeah, that was painful. Quite a lot I might add. The fingers had hurt pretty much, and this? Let's just say it hurt quite a bit more since Axels erection stretched out his hole so it felt that something inside of him would break.

"Take your time..." Axel said with a very forced calm voice. He was damn hard, and he felt a big urge to move, but since Roxas wasn't really adjusted to being filled like this he patiently waited for Roxas' approval so he would be able to finally move.

Roxas could feel that Axel was more tense than himself, which wasn't so weird, Roxas did after all know how it felt to be so paainfully hard that you just had to get rid of it somehow. That was probably exactly what Axel was going through at this moment.

_'Come on, Roxas, relax God damnit...'_ Roxas thought as he once more closed his eyes and took a deep breath, _'This is not Seifer you're with. It's Axel. Axel wouldn't hurt you on purpose!' _with these thoughts Roxas opened his eyes again and then gave a nod to Axel who blinked and looked at Roxas to confirm.

"You... can move," Roxas murmured as he reached up to wrap his arms around Axels shoulders, it felt nice to have a grip around something, especially someone you loved.

Axel gave a nod and then slowly he moved out, but before he was completely out he thrusted inside once more, making Roxas hiss in slight pain and he couldn't help clawing at Axels shoulders. But the redhead didn't seem to mind.

"Roxas..." Axel murmured as he repeated the motion, moving out to then thrust back inside. Over and over, first slowly... but after a few thrusts the pace quickened. And Roxas found the pain to slowly subside the more the time went by. He was getting used to the feeling by now.

"A-ah... Axel!" Roxas moaned as Axels erection hit his prostate dead on, making him writhe in pleasure, now this was something Seifer hadn't been able to do to him, "D-damn it, hit that spot... again!" he gasped as Axel moaned and nodded at the same time.

"F-fuck!" Axel let out as he started to move faster, sweat was pearling his forehead and his back as he kept thrusting at a pretty fast pace, and then hitting Roxas' prostate which made the blonde gasp and moan loudly in pleasure, "You're so goddamned good!" he let out breathlesslyas he grabbed Roxas' erection which made the blonde moan loudly again, "Moan for me, Roxas," Axel murmured into Roxas' ear, "You sound so freakin' hot!"

Roxas couldn't really not oblige to that and did indeed moan loudly, "Axel!" he cried out once Axel hit his prostate again, which had been quite a few times by now, "A-A-Axel!"

Axel smirked as he listened to Roxas repeat his name while moaning, just that made Axel shudder in pleasure. To hear Roxas say his name like that was **so** god damn hot! He soon let out a moan of his own as he realized that he was close to coming, it hadn't really lasted as long as he had believed it would, but it was something about the way Roxas had started to move against him that was sending him to the edge, and he knew that he would have to give in to the waves of pleasure soon.

"Sh-shit, I'm going to come soon!" Axel let out and wrapped his hand around Roxas' erection once more and started to pump it at the same pace he thrusted into Roxas which just made the blonde cry out in pleasure.

"I'm coming too, I'm freaking going to... A-ah!" Roxas suddenly went rigid before letting out a loud and quite strangled moan as he felt how he came in Axels hand. It felt like his mind had exploded, it felt like a flash had passed through his body... And then, it was all over.

Axel didn't last much longer, since when Roxas came he automatically clenched around Axels erection which sent the redhead to a completely new level of pleasure, and with a loud groan he gave a few last thrusting motions before coming inside of the blonde and then collapsing on top of Roxas who was panting loudly.

That had left them both completely drained of energy.

For a while they just laid there. Neither Axel nor Roxas had the energy to move from the other. And Roxas was pretty much stuck under Axel either way...

"Holy shit..." Axel let out in a weak voice after a while, "That was... amazing..."

Roxas nodded, with his mouth slightly ajar, "Yeah... Great..."

Axel smiled and softly kissed Roxas. A few months ago neither of them had had any hope in ever falling in love again. Axel hadn't found anyone who had been the right one for him, while Roxas had been left so scarred after his last relationship that he had been afraid nothing would work out after it. But it seemed that destiny had been good to them and brought them together.

"Axel..." Roxas said after a while, with a strange expression.

Axel blinked and looked down at Roxas who weas lying beneath him, "What is it?"

"The pressure you're causing on my stomach is kind of making it... wanna come out again..." Roxas mumbled with a blush covering his face as he looked at Axel who was lying on top of him. The redhead opened his mouth and then his eyes widened.

"Ooh!" he said and immediately pushed himself up from Roxas, and in the process pulling out of him, "You wanna take a shower?" he asked and looked at himself and then at Roxas, "We... left quite a mess on both of us..." he sheepishly said, "But you look damn hot either way," he then added with a wink, "I said you look damn fine when you're all sweaty and flushed, remember?"

Roxas blushed heavily but did send a glare at Axel as he stood up and clenched to make sure that nothing was going to leak out on the floor, "Lead the way. Quickly. Or you're never getting anything from me again," he said dryly.

Axel pouted but did lead the way in all his naked glory, "And Roxas goes back to being mean to me," he muttered.

Roxas simply rolled his eyes as he limped after Axel, yeah, he was limping. He felt pretty sore, and he didn't want to know how it would feel next day when it was school and everything. God how embarrassing! He just prayed that Cloud wouldn't be able to tell why he was limping...

* * *

Reno sighed as he turned the engine off and then stepped out of the car. He had gone out to see Rude. And he had been supposed to be out with Rude the whole day and evening. Sure Reno had felt a little bit worn out thanks to that movie marathon... But he had looked forward to it. And just as Reno had reached Rude... Shinra called. Yay. Apparently Tseng was sick, and Rude had to go to work. Leaving a pissed off Reno to go back home.

"Stupid Tseng... He's never sick!" Reno muttered as he locked the car and walked up to the apartment house and stepped inside, walking up the stairs to reach his floor.

Just when Reno was about to get to his apartment one of the neighbours opened their doors...

"It's on god damned time that you get home!" an old man hissed as he pointed at Reno with his walking stick, "Then you can tell your darn brother to be quiet! I've no idea what he have been up to but the sounds have been driving me crazy!"

Reno rolled his eyes, "Sure, sure, Kirk," he said with a sigh, "I'll tell him to be quiet," he simply said and unlocked the the door.

"You better do!" and with that a slam was heard as the old man, Kirk, shut his door.

Reno snorted and shook his head. As if he cared that Axel was making noises. His brother had probably just been listening to some loud music, it wouldn't be the first time... With a sigh he stepped inside his apartment and kicked of his shoes.

"Yo, Ax!" he called as he walked out of the hall, but he got no response, "Axel?" he questioningly said as he walked up to Axels room and opened the door.

Once Reno opened the door he was met of hot air that smelled of sweat and something more... Oh... OH! His eyes widened as he quickly scanned Axels room. Clothes scattered on the floor... And it wasn't only Axels clothes. The bed looked messier than usual. All this could only mean one thing... All of a sudden Reno found himself grinning widely as he finally noticed that he heard the sound of the shower being on.

"Axel... Heh, you horny bastard," he said with a laugh as he closed Axels bedroom door and walked over to the TV and started it before lying down in the couch, it would be interesting to see the teens reactions at having Reno home.

And actually, it didn't take more than 5 minutes before the shower was turned of, and then the bathroom door opened up.

"Come on, Roxas," Axel whined, "Don't be like that!"

Roxas sighed, "Axel, I was joking, you really have to start learning to see when someone tells a joke or is being serious," he softly said.

Axel snorted, "Well you look the same to me when... Hey... We didn't leave the TV on..." he said with a frown on his face as he walked against the livingroom, Roxas followed him close behind.

Once both teenagers entered the livingroom Reno sat up with a grin on his face, "Had a good time, yo?" he asked with a wink which immediately made Roxas blush more than ever. Axel just stared at Reno in surprise, "Ah, don't look at me like that, I live here to, you know..."

"We were just showering, is that a crime?!" Axel hissed as he unconsciously gripped at the towell that hung from his waist and down to his knees.

Reno grinned even wider, "Just showering, eh? And what happened to your room, yo? Did a hurricane go through it?" he asked as he et his grin fall, and a smirk took place on his face instead. And now it was Axels turn to blush slightly.

"You've got nothing to do in my room, got it memorized?" he hissed with a glare before he turned around and pushed Roxas against his room. God... that was a nightmare!

While inside the room Axel and Roxas just stared at each other for a while.

"Well... At least he didn't come home when we were in action," Axel said with a slight laugh, "Always something good, right?"

Roxas smiled weakly as he started collecting his clothes from the floor with some trouble, "Yeah..."

"Are you going home?" Axel just asked out of the blue.

Roxas turned his head as he was getting his boxers on, "Yeah... I better get home so Cloud doesn't worry... And no offense but it feels kind of weird to have your brother here when I just have... had sex with you. And that he knows..." Roxas muttered as he pulled his pants on.

Axel let out a chuckle as he picked up Roxas shirt from the floor and handed it to the blonde, "I get it, I'd be scared as hell if it was Cloud knowing though..."

Roxas laughed at that, "Yeah, I don't think you'd be so popular in his book, even though he know that I love you a lot," he said lightly as he ut on his shirt as well.

Axel had gotten himself dressed during the time Roxas had been picking up his clothes, "Well, Roxas... I'll give you a ride, since it's my fault that you got that limp now," he said with an apologetic grin on his face.

Roxas sighed but smiled weakly, "Thanks, I appreciate it."

Axel grinned as he wrapped an arm around Roxas and pulled him out of his bedroom, out to the hall. Just ignoring Reno who was sitting in the livingroom.

"DON'T LET CLOUD SEE THAT LIMP, YO!" the older Sinclair yelled which made Roxas blush once more.

Axel simply rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Reno!" he shouted back before he opened the door and pulled Roxas, who barely had had time to get his shoes on, out of the apartment and quickly made his way downstairs.

"Can you slow down a little bit? I don't know about you, but I'm having a little problem with walking this fast!" he said and hissed in pain as they reached the last step of the stair.

"Ooops, sorry Rox!" Axel said with a grin on his face as he slowed down as they walked up to the car.

"I hope you remember to drive slow as well," Roxas muttered as he got into the passenger's seat.

Oh great. He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to getting home.

* * *

"Cloud, I'm home!" Roxas called as soon as he stepped into their house, the door had been unlocked, and Fenrir wasn't away so Cloud had to be home as well. He got his shoes of and turned to walk into the kitchen, and he did find Cloud there, standing by the oven, happily humming...

Wait a moment, Cloud was humming? Happily humming? Those things didn't really go together in Roxas brain. Cloud was supposed to be neutral most of the time. This was plain weird... And as if this wasn't enough Cloud just turned around and smiled brightly at Roxas.

"Hi! You're right on time, I'm soon finished with dinner, it's waffles!" he happily said.

Roxas just nodded with half open mouth before he sat down at his usual spot by the table, "Okay..."

"So how was it? Did Axel get happy to see you? What have you been up to today?" Cloud asked as he was about to finish the last pair of waffles.

"Uh... yeah, he was very happy... We didn't do so much, met the gang and had some fun," he replied with a shrug, "Has something good happened?" Roxas then asked, he was not able to contain his curiosity any longer... Something was off with Cloud for the moment.

"Something good? Well, Zack was here and we talked for a while, it was quite fun actully," Cloud said with a confused look on his face "Why?" he asked as he put a place of waffled on the table before sitting down by the table as well.

Roxas smiled slightly at just hearing Zack's name. It was fun that the older teen could make such a big impact on how Cloud acted around other people. Zack simply made Cloud happier, the same way that Axel made Roxas happier.

"Just that you seemed to be very happy," Roxas said with a shrug and a smile on his face as he started eating a bit.

"Okay..." Cloud said and blinked before he started eating as well, "I guess he just cheered me up a bit," he then added.

"That's good..." Roxas said after he swallowed, "But you can tell him to be nicer to me. He was about to tickle me to death with Axel earlier today, I'm happy that Angeal went to his house and saved me from the torture," he then dryly said.

Cloud chuckled, "I heard about that as well..."

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Oh great," he muttered.

"Hey, Roxas..." Cloud then all of a sudden said as he bit his lip.

Roxas blinked as he looked up at Cloud, well wasn't that a change of attitude? Moments ago he was all happy and now he suddenly looked nervous for some reason, and Roxas had no idea why.

He frowned, "What?"

"I just wanted to ask if... Are you happy like this?" he all of a sudden asked and Roxas groaned. He felt like banging his face into the table surface. This was so typical Cloud.

"Why wouldn't I be? Cloud, I thought I made it clear that you're great and all that before, why come asking that again now?" he asked with a sigh.

Now it was Cloud's time to sigh and he shrugged, "I just thought that maybe you didn't want to tell the truth since you... didn't tell me about... you know," he cautiously said.

Roxas scratched his head and grimaced, "Moving here was the best thing ever. I met Axel and I've got a lot of great friends, and I have a brother who cares. And I didn't tell anyone about **that** since I didn't want to, that's all there is to it," he stated and with that shoved some waffle into his mouth to clarify that he was done talking about that subject.

"All right..." Cloud said and then let out a slight chuckle, "I guess Zack's right about me. I tend to worry too much about things, isn't that right?" he then asked.

Roxas immediately nodded, "He is right about that one. Sometimes you could think he knows you better than you know yourself..." he said with a shrug.

"Yeah, that might be right," Cloud said and sighed.

Roxas smiled slightly before turning his attention to his food again. This was one of the few times they had talked this much during dinner...

"Oh, by the way, some blue haired guy was here and asked if you were home today..." Cloud then said with a shrug.

"Was it Zexion?" Roxas asked with frown on his face, why would Zexion go to his house and ask for him, he did have Roxas number after all...

Cloud shook his head, "No... This guy was older, long blue hair, an x-shaped scar over his face..." he said and looked at Roxas.

"I've no idea who that would be," Roxas said with a shrug, "The only person with blue hair that I know is Zexion..."

Cloud made a humming sound and then sighed, "Well, he did know who you were. He might be back later, maybe there will ring a bell..."

"Didn't he give you a name?" Roxas asked.

Cloud gave a nod, "Right, I think his name was Saïx."

"Saïx..." Roxas slowly repeated and then sighed, "Never heard of..."

* * *

"Did you locate where Axel's toy lives, Saïx?" the silverhaired man asked with a smirk on his face as the blue haired male walked up to him.

He nodded, "Yes, Xemnas. He's living with Strife, I believe they're brothers," he said with a monotone voice.

Xemnas hummed, "Intresting... But that might complicate some things. I hadn't expected him to be related to Cloud Strife..."

"We'll get past that problem somehow," Saïx assured and Xemnas nodded slowly.

"Yes, I know we will, but maybe it would be wise to call for Xigbar, in case of certain... obstacles," he said with a smirk on his face.

"As you wish," Saïx said with a slight bow and then left the room.

Xemnas kept smirking as he stood up and walked up to the window and looked out over Twilight Town. If it was the last thing he ever did it would be to make Axel suffer as much as possible.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that was it for this chapter! It would be fun if you want to join the competition, I've a few people on dA who're going to take part of it, but I'd like for more people as well And now I leave the rest to Sora!

**Sora: **Yaaay! I've never been in the end like this before! It's such an honor! Yay, I'm so happy that I'm trusted with this! Uh... Wait... What was I supposed to do?  
**Roxas: **-sighs- You're supposed to ask the readers to review so we all know what they think...  
**Sora: **Oh, right! Thanks a lot for reading and we'd be reaaalllyyyy happy if you review as well! :D ...Roxas, why are you limping, are you hurt?!


	16. Chapter 16

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** Well the contest is over, and I picked a winner. Check out wocket-in-my-pocket at deviantart! She drew an awesome picture for my contest, and thus she won :3 (Aka Ren13013 here at !)  
And now the wait for this chapter is finally over! I've been writing as if I had a bunch of zombies chasing me these last days! And it actually got about one page longer than it is supposed to be, but whatever, more reading for you!  
**  
**

**Thanks to:** **Pocket Rainbow** for beta reading and correcting my mistakes!  
And to; **keiyoku**, **FallenAngel2194**, **Ren13013**, **KooriTheSneak**, **Melodious Authoress**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **The Infamous Me**, **Renkin-chan**, **What About Today**, **lovetheHams**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Mord Sith Matt** and **BlueFox of the Moon**. Thanks a lot for reviewing last chapter!

**  
Warnings: **Language, some angst, fighting, male x male relationships... That kind of stuff.

**Disclaimer: **And here it comes... I do not own Kingdom Hearts cause Square Enix and Disney does and I'm not Square Enix or Disney D:

* * *

**Chapter 16**

It had been about two weeks since Axel and Roxas had had sex for the first time. Yes, I did say first time. Wonder if they did it again? I'm not sure about that. Well those two weeks had been extremely uneventful. And Roxas had realized with surprise that Axel wasn't available all the time since he was working! He had completely forgotten the fact that Axel worked and he had no idea how he had been overlooking it for the time he had known and been with Axel.

Other than just being bored Roxas had somehow felt stalked, like as soon as he was outside it felt like someone was following him... But he concluded that it was simply paranoia.

And now, a Saturday, Roxas had headed for Axels apartment in hopes of finding some entertainment. The redhead might think not of something other than Roxas when it comes to entertainment but he could pretty much go with anything.

With a sigh Roxas knocked on the Sinclairs' door.

"Roxas? Oh, just make yourself at home, I'm gonna get out of these clothes and take a shower, I hope you don't mind, yo?" Reno asked with a wide grin on his face, not caring that he hadn't let the blonde step inside yet, "I'm sure Axel will be home soon!" he said, still grinning as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

Roxas couldn't help taking a slight step backwards since the older man was being a little bit too close for his liking, plus the fact that he smelt of sweat didn't really apply to Roxas. It was... yucky.

"What the heck have you been doing?" Roxas asked with a frown on his face as he looked at Reno and got inside, avoiding getting too close to Reno.

The redhead laughed and pulled a hand through his hair before closing the door, "Been working out, I don't have this body for nothing, yo. Wouldn't want this to go to waste, or what do you say?" he asked with a smirk on his face and posed.

The blonde blushed slightly as he looked away, "You're weird," he stated and Reno just laughed as he turned around and headed into his bedroom, leaving the blonde alone for the moment. He sighed as he walked around a bit, not sure what to do.

With another sigh he looked around, what was he supposed to do? Maybe wait in Axels room or-,

"You know, you can watch TV instead of pacing around, yo?" a voice suddenly said right behind him which made poor Roxas jump and let out a yelp of surprise at the same time, he turned around and found himself standing just a few centimetres away from Reno's face. And trust me, he didn't smell very good...

"Ew! Have you even smelled yourself?!" Roxas asked as he tried to back away, but Reno grinned and followed with arms open wide. It was at this moment Roxas noticed that the older redhead wasn't wearing anything more than a pair of shorts, and that was something that unsettled Roxas, how would YOU feel if your boyfriend's brother was coming at you in basically no clothes at all?

"Rooooxiiiieee! Come on and get a nice and sweaty hug, yo!" Reno cried happily, still stalking after Roxas who shrieked when the redhead got closer to him, and backed away, "It will be sooo nice! I swear Axel will still love you even though you will smell a bit!" he said with a grin on his face as he started to run after the blonde.

Roxas squeaked as he turned and started run as well, "Get away from me you sicko!" he said in an unnaturally high pitched voice as he tried to avoid the sweaty Reno who ran after him. It was gross! Who did such things to people? But he wasn't really surprised; Reno was Axels brother after all...

"Aw, it's just a hug!" Reno cooed as he chased after Roxas, they were practically running in circles and the redhead had to admit that Roxas was quite fast actually... But Reno was faster, "HIIYAH!" he yelled loudly as he reached out and managed to take a grip on the back of Roxas shirt to then turn the blonde around and pretty much glomp him. And Roxas who had been so close to reach his sanctuary, also known as Axels room... If he had just been a little bit faster.

Roxas screamed as he tried his best to wriggle out of Reno's sweaty arms. But the redhead was too strong, and he was laughing at Roxas' attempts to flee.

"Isn't this nice, yo?" Reno cooed and then proceeded with rubbing his face against Roxas' cheek which made the blonde let out loud noises of protest as he squirmed in the redheads forceful hug. Roxas wasn't impressed by Reno's behaviour. And if Roxas had been bigger, he would have kicked Reno's ass, but nooo. Roxas just had to be a small blonde trapped in the tall and strong redhead's arms. Great. Fantastic.

"Ew, stop it, stop it!" he cried out and started to flail since nothing else seemed to work...

Reno just laughed as Roxas started flailing, "Hey, watch it we might fa-AH!" in mid sentence, thanks to Roxas' flailing, Reno lost his balance... and they fell. Yes, they fell and landed on the floor, in a very awkward position.

Roxas had shut his eyes while falling and it wasn't until several seconds later he dared to open them, and he was staring right up into Reno's eyes, the tall redhead was hovering over him with his hands at the sides of Roxas' head. Roxas' own hands were resting against Reno's shoulders, holding him at quite a distance. Of course Roxas started blushing once he realized how weird it felt, it was a highly intimate position for the two of them, and a faint blush even crept up on Reno's face when he noticed how close they were and how wrong it must look.

For some reason they seemed to have frozen since neither one of them moved and almost didn't breath. Both of them were pulled out of their trance when the sound of the door opening up interrupted them in their... brain freeze.

"Reno, I'M HOOOME!"

Oh shit, both Roxas and Reno immediately realized that they were in trouble if Axel found them like this... They had to do something! And apparently both Reno and Roxas thought this at the same time cause both of them moved at same time and... somehow it ended up looking even more intimate since they collided halfway up, making Reno lose his balance once more and push down even closer to Roxas who couldn't do more than try and push Reno up.

"Reno?" Axels confused voice was heard and then the sound of footsteps getting closer. A few seconds later both Roxas and Reno noticed Axel standing in the doorway, with a look of surprise across his face. Well, who would expect to come home to find their boyfriend tangled up with their brother, who I might add didn't wear much clothes at all? Exactly. No one.

"Bro!" Reno said with a sheepish grin on his face, still hands on each side of Roxas' head, Roxas still having his hands against Reno's shoulders, "You can't believe... Hey!"

Reno didn't get time to finish his sentence since Axel had turned on his heel with a pissed off and quite hurt face expression. And soon the door was slammed shut.

And then Roxas finally got what was happening, "Oh God no!" he said with wide eyes as he forcefully pushed Reno off of him and then got up on his legs running for the door, determined in getting to Axel before he got to his car. Then it would be trouble, a lot of trouble.

"Axel!" he yelled, he could see the redheads hair as he walked down the stairs, Roxas hurried after him, "Damn it, Axel, WAIT!" he yelled once more and sprinted down the stairs, managing to take a grip on the back of Axels jacket before he reached the door that would let him out of the apartment house.

"Let go!" Axel hissed as he stepped away and pulled his jacked out from Roxas' grip of it, "I-,"

"Listen to me Axel, that wasn't anything!" Roxas said with a pleading tone, realizing that maybe he sounded a little bit too desperate, "It was an accident, okay?" he said and looked at Axel who didn't look any happier by hearing this, he was more likely looking more angry.

He let out a cold laugh, "Yeah, an accident all right! Reno and you just happened to end up all tangled up together on the floor and Reno just happened to lose his clothes, right?" he said sarcastically and glared at Roxas, "Roxas, I'm not fucking stupid!"

Roxas growled, "Well, then grow up and think about it! Do you think any one of us would consider going behind your back?!" he hissed with narrowed eyes.

Axel snorted and looked at Roxas, "You tell me that! Fuck, I don't have to stand here and listen to this shit..." he said and shook his head as he turned around and took a few steps towards the exit.

"I fucking love you!" Roxas then yelled at the top of his lungs, now he was becoming upset about this, it was so silly, "I LOVE YOU!" he screamed and pointed at Axel.

Axel turned around to face Roxas once more, with a look of anger in his eyes, "Maybe you should have thought of that before you even thought of whoring yourself out to my brother of all people! What is it? Do redheads turn you on? It doesn't matter 'cause we look almost the same to you!?"  
Roxas opened his mouth in shock. If there was something he thought Axel would never suggest, it was that Roxas would whore himself out to others. Not after he had told him about Seifer and Hollow Bastion. Apparently he had been wrong.

"Axel..." he said quietly after recovering slightly from shock, "I'd never-,"

"Look, I don't care right now, I'm pissed off as hell 'cause I thought we had something special. Why don't you go back to Reno, he must be feeling lonely," he said shortly with a sharp and cold voice before leaving the apartment house. Roxas slumped down to the floor. Each word the redhead had said had felt like stabs to his heart.

"Idiot..." Roxas quietly said, not sure if he meant himself, Axel or Reno, before he bit his lip and pushed himself up from the floor. He wasn't going to sit there on the floor and cry. Nothing would get solved by doing that. With a heavy intake of breath he started to walk up stairs again, he met Reno in the doorway, said redhead looked at Roxas with a worried expression.

Roxas just walked past him into the apartment, Reno shut the door after Roxas. He had put on a t-shirt for the moment, "Roxas, what... did he say?"

Roxas shrugged and sat down in the couch, "It doesn't matter," he shortly said, refusing to look at Reno for the moment, if Reno hadn't insisted on chasing him like that they would never have fallen and landed in such an intimate position. And then Axel wouldn't have walked in on them that way, "He wouldn't listen to me," he then said with a shrug.

Reno moaned in annoyance, "Shit..." he said and shook his head, "Fuckety, fuckety, fuck!"

Well, Roxas couldn't agree more about Reno's choice of words. It was all so fucked up. Axel thought Roxas had cheated on him with Reno. Or as Axel had nicely put it, whored himself out to Reno. That stung a lot. He had never thought that he would hear something like that come from Axel since he knew about the rumours that Seifer had been spreading about him in Hollow Bastion. Roxas didn't need a repeat of that, it had been hard enough in Hollow Bastion with friends he had known forever, how would things go now?

"What... What exactly did he say?" Reno asked after a while, warily pulling a hand through his hair.

Roxas shrugged, "That he didn't care 'cause he was pissed off and that I should go back to you since he said you'd get lonely... And some other stuff," he said with a shrug, immediately feeling down about it. He felt so damn hurt, if Axel felt hurt it was nothing compared to how Roxas felt... Did Axel have that little faith in him?

"What more did he say, Roxas?" Reno carefully asked, "Kid, I can tell he said something cruel by the look on your face..." he trailed off and looked at the blonde.

Roxas turned his face away, "Nothing, he didn't say anything more that I can think of really," he said shortly, trying to ignore the want to cry about it, "I... I have to go..." he then said and stood up, but Reno pushed him down again.

"Wait a minute," Reno said and grabbed his phone and dealt a number, which could only be Axels.

There was silence lying in the air as Reno waited for Axel to pick up the phone. But judging by the time it took it didn't seem that the younger Sinclair was about to pick up any time soon, and neither Reno or Roxas had expected him to. Reno cursed under his breath as he kept the phone by his ear then he growled.

"Axel you fucktard, I know that you got your damn phone with you 'cause you can't live without it! Do you really think I'd go and seduce Roxas to get into his pants, yo? Or do you think Roxas would do that to you? Think again and you better call back you asshat, you clearly said something to Roxas that made him upset and yeah, it probably looked bad to find us on the floor but I was simply messing around with him 'cause he didn't want to get a hug when I was all sweaty, so get to your fucking senses and get back from wherever you are!" Reno hissed into the phone and then put it down with a frustrated sigh, "Sorry, voice mail is all I can do for now, yo," he said with a sympathetic expression.

The blond shrugged, "It's all right..." he said, still not looking at Reno.

"I'm really sorry, Roxas, I had no idea it would end up this way and I know that it's-,"

"It's all right, Reno," Roxas said and sighed, "It's not your fault; you had no idea, as you said. It's out of your control so don't blame yourself," he murmured as he stood up, "I... I'm gonna go for a walk, could you contact me if you get to Axel somehow?" he then asked and finally looked at Reno who immediately nodded.

"Of course, yo," he said and patted Roxas' shoulder, "I'll make sure to. Be careful, kid," he then said as he watched Roxas put on his shoes to then give a nod and leave the apartment.

Roxas let out a sigh as he walked out of the apartment house and walked down a street. He didn't really know where to go. He didn't want to go home 'cause Cloud would just bother him, he wasn't sure if Demyx was a good idea, cause if Axel had told them about what had happened they might be angry at Roxas. For something he hadn't done. But where could he go? Maybe... Maybe Axel was at the clock tower, so he could go there. But at the same time Roxas wasn't sure if he wanted to see Axel. It still hurt to think Axel had considered Roxas whoring himself out to Reno.

"This sucks..." he miserably said as he kept walking, in the end heading for Zacks house since they usually hung out at that place on weekends since he was the one living alone and having the biggest place out of all of them.

Roxas sighed as he knocked on the door. He could hear faint talking from inside and soon the door was opened up by Zack who didn't look happy and he frowned when he saw Roxas.

"You're here when you-,"

Roxas sighed and turned around as he started to walk back the way he had been coming from. It seemed Axel had reached them with the news first, which meant that they had the wrong version of the story and that meant he would be judged by Axels friends. What chance did Roxas have to prove himself right when they had known Axel for years, and Roxas for only a few months?

"Hey!" Zack called, "What the hell were you thinking?!" he then called, "Just tell me that!"

Roxas whipped around, tears streaming down his face, "I'm thinking that Axel is an idiot who didn't let me explain what the fuck was going on!" he said and with that he turned again, but was soon stopped once more.

"Roxas!" this time Demyx called for him, "Please, come in, we... We'd like this to be cleared out. We... we won't judge you for now, 'kay?" he asked, with a strained and quite pleading voice. It was strange hearing Demyx sound like that.

Roxas was shaking cause of several emotions, "I've already been judged, and I can see when someone is judging me, believe me, Demyx, a hell of a lot of things happened in Hollow Bastion. I know when I'm being judged, and even you are doing that," he said and looked at Demyx as he wiped at the tears running down his face.

Demyx looked down for a moment and then looked up, "Please?" he asked once more, and well. What had Roxas been expecting really? They were Axels best friends. With a sigh the blonde walked towards the doorway and stepped inside as Demyx and Zack stepped aside to allow him to get inside. Of course they weren't the only ones there, Marluxia and Zexion were also in there. Namine was sitting by a table, looking bothered.

"Roxas..." Zexion said with a look at Roxas.

"Listen guys..." Roxas said and trailed of, "I just want to know if you know where Axel has gone off to?" he asked, not looking at any of them.

Zack sighed and shrugged, "Wish we knew, he was only by for a short while and then drove on. I get the feeling he doesn't want to see you though," he then said with a slight glare at Roxas, "For obvious reasons," he added.

Roxas sighed and looked at the door.

"No!" Demyx said sharply, "Don't even think of leaving before you explain yourself!" he then said and grabbed Roxas' wrist, making the blond's eyes widen, never had Demyx been this forceful and... angry? "How could you do that to Axel?" he then desperately asked, tightening his grip on Roxas' wrist.

Roxas opened his mouth and then felt that he was going to start to either cry or yell soon if he couldn't collect himself.

"I didn't do anything!" Roxas protested, now looking straight into Demyx's eyes, "I love Axel! I have never loved anyone like I love him, and I didn't do anything with Reno!"

"He said he found you guys all tangled up together-," Zack started.

"It was a freaking accident!" Roxas cried out and pulled out from Demyx's grip, "I was at Axels place, waiting for him to get home and Reno talked to me, he had been working out so he was all sweaty and later he walked out of his room in just underwear and thought it would be fun to hug me since I was freaked out by the stench of sweat, I panicked when he hugged me and we fell. Axel walked in and found us right after that..."

Everyone looked at Roxas with different expressions, Marluxia looked torn between sadness and hope, Demyx still looked quite angry, Zack looked indifferent as Zexion usually looked. And Namine, she didn't show her face.

"I went after him and tried to explain b-but he wouldn't listen to me!" Roxas said and once more tears started to leak out so he turned around, facing a wall, "I told him that I'd never cheat on him and that I loved him and then he just said that I should have thought about that before I... before I w-whored myself out to Reno, and Axel of all damn people should know what that means to me! He was the first person I ever told about Hollow Bastion, and now it's repeating itself! It's all happening again!" he cried out and covered his face, "I just... I'd never cheat on Axel. Why the heck would I?! I love him, I freaking love him, and now he's pissed off and won't... It's like when Seifer spread those rumours... It's like..." he started to shake slightly and let out a strangled sob, "I didn't cheat on Axel!"

Marluxia sighed and stood up as he walked up to Roxas and pulled the shorter teenager into a hug, after all Marluxia was one of the few others who knew about what happened in Hollow Bastion, "I believe you, Roxas, I know you wouldn't cheat on him, all right?" he said softly as he looked around at all the others who seemed to be sceptical, "And all of you know that Axel is a drama queen so don't look at me like that," Marluxia then sharply said which made everyone relAx' a bit.

"I'm n-not a wh-whore," Roxas choked out in between sobs, "I-if he had just let me e-explain..."

"Shush, it will be fine," Marluxia said and sighed as he pulled Roxas with him to the couch, "Please calm down?" he questioned as he looked at Roxas who nodded and let out a half choked sob and wiped his tears away.

"There..." Marluxia said and smiled, "So, what exactly happened between you two, just tell it in your own pace, don't leave anything out, okay?"

Roxas sighed but nodded as he took a deep breath before he started explaining the dialogue in the apartment house before Axel had gotten into the car and left Roxas. It took a few minutes for Roxas to be able to tell it since he was on the verge of crying again when he told them that Axel had told him to go back to Reno.

Once he was finished he was hugged by Demyx who wailed, "I'm so sorry I treated you like that Roxas!" he said as he kept his hold on Roxas, "I know you love Axel but I let the overprotective side of me take control! Man, now I want to scold Axel for not letting you take your time and explain!" he cried out in frustration.

Marluxia sighed and shrugged, "Axel can be such an idiot... Especially when he knew about Hollow Bastion..." he said and trailed off.

"What happened in Hollow Bastion?" Namine softly asked, making everyone look from her to Roxas in interest. Everyone was kind of curious.

Roxas looked down and fiddled with the end of his shirt, "I had a boyfriend who I broke up with after my parents' deaths... He didn't like that idea so he... he raped me and after that he spread rumours about me whoring myself out with anyone and my... my best friends believed him, along with all the teens in town," Roxas said weakly, there wasn't any need to keep it a secret any longer, "That's one of the reasons I moved... When your best friend calls you a whore, it hurts..." he trailed off "And to hear Axel suggest that I'd whore myself out..." there Roxas grew silent, he couldn't continue that sentence.

Zack groaned, "Damn... Why haven't you said anything?" he asked with a look at Roxas.

Roxas shrugged and glanced away, "It isn't exactly a dinner party subject..." he murmured, "I didn't want anyone to know."

"I'm sorry that this happened, Roxas," Marluxia said after a while, "I'm going to give him a good scolding when I get my hands on him, he should be a lot more careful with what he got since everything that has been happening..."

Roxas smiled weakly, "You don't have to, Marluxia... It's my problem..."

"I want to," he stated with crossed arms, "Axel needs someone other than Reno to tell him what's right and wrong, he's really childish and doesn't handle situations well, he gets angry and can't control it..."

Zexion sighed and then shook his head, "Sorry, Roxas, we all kind of judged you there..."

Roxas shrugged, "Don't worry. I'm used to it," he said with quite a monotone voice, not looking at anything at all, "But... Do you have any clue where he'd go?" he then asked.

"The clock tower?" Namine suggested with a look at Roxas. Roxas gave a nod and then stood up and looked at all of them.

"Thanks... for listening to me, I... I understand that you were judging me, I mean, you've known Axel for far longer than me so of course you'd be upset if he was upset..." Roxas said with a sigh, "Now... I'm gonna check the clock tower," he said with a nod, heading for the door.

Marluxia stood up, "Let me take you there."

* * *

Roxas sighed as he climbed up the last part of the clock tower and found the door being open, which could only mean that Axel was actually up there since no one else used to be up there, not that any one of them knew of at least. He swallowed as he stepped through the door, he was nervous about what would happen. It could be the end of their relationship.

The redhead was sitting with his back towards Roxas, looking out over Twilight Town. He showed no signs of even hearing Roxas.

"Axel..." Roxas softly said as he looked at the redheads back, "Please let me talk to you..." he pleaded.

Axel moved a bit on the spot, not giving any signs of caring that Roxas was there, "Leave me the hell alone," he said coldly.

"No, I'm not," Roxas said determinedly and took a small step forward, he wasn't going to let their relationship end this way, not because of a stupid mistake, "You're making assumptions that-,"

"Roxas, I don't feel like talking about this. I found you with Reno, on top of you. That's enough for me," he said, a trace of hurt was heard in his voice.

Roxas sighed as he sat down a few meters away from Axel, looking another way. Maybe it would be easier if he just relAx'ed and tried to calm down. He wouldn't win anything by getting worked up and get Axel even more angry. He knew he had to try and keep the redhead calm as well if he didn't want it to end up a disaster.

The blond closed his eyes for a short moment before he sighed and looked up at the darkening sky, the stars waere even starting to show up. Roxas hadn't realized that they were going towards autumn and soon winter. It had already been about a month since he and Axel had first had sex for. And everything had been going so well. Nothing had gone wrong, or well... he had felt like someone was following him from time to time, paranoia much, eh?

But back on topic.

"If you think I've hurt you, you've no idea how much you've hurt me," Roxas carefully said, hoping Axel wouldn't get defensive over that.

And this time Axel actually turned his face to glance at Roxas so the blond glanced back, like Roxas, the redhead had quite red and puffy eyes. So Axel had clearly been very upset as well.

"What the he-,"

"Axel, please. Face it, I'd never cheat on you," Roxas murmured and looked at Axel with pleading eyes, hoping he would come to his senses, "It's... It's quite painful to think that you actually believe I'd whore myself out when you know what kind of impact that had on me in Hollow Bastion. That you... That you'd even consider that I'd sleep with Reno... It hurt a lot. I see why you're upset 'cause you found us in that awkward position, but you never let me speak. You just assumed that Reno and I were going to jump in bed while all he was doing was messing around with me until we tripped. I didn't want to get his sweat on me, that's what it's all about," Roxas calmly explained, once more looking up at the sky, hoping it would finally get through Axels thick head.

Axel didn't say anything; he just still glanced over at Roxas.

"I'm sorry that I give the impression of a... a whore," Roxas spat out the last word, "But I still love you. Even though every word you said back there hurt a hell of a lot..."

"Roxas..." Axel quietly said.

"I'm not a whore, Axel, that's what I'm trying to tell you. I wouldn't go and be with someone else. But if you don't want me, then... then I..." Roxas trailed of and closed his eyes. Why couldn't he say it? If Axel didn't want him any longer, he'd accept it. But no... he wouldn't be able to accept such a thing, "I just don't think that a stupid mistake like this should be enough to break us up... As you said: we had something special, and I hope we still have..."

Axel sighed and pulled a hand trough his spiky hair, like he usually did when he was slightly bothered or nervous about something, "I... I'm sorry," he mumbled, closing his eyes, "I was acting stupid," he then tiredly said.

Roxas blinked as he looked at Axel who was glancing at him, "You mean..." he trailed off.

"I was being a jerk when I said that you was whoring yourself out," Axel stated.

Roxas let out a hollow laugh, "Allow me to agree about that..." he murmured as he made eye contact with Axel, "You know, you've got great friends. If mine had been like yours it would have been fantastic..." he then said and sighed.

"What do you mean...?" Axel asked.

Roxas shrugged, "They really care about you. Really pushed me up against a wall. Never seen anyone of them that angry, heh..."

Axels eyes widened, "What? You went to see them?" he asked.

Roxas nodded, "I didn't know what to do. I had to find you and I was desperate..."

Axel sighed and rubbed his eyes before pulling a hand through his hair once more, "I'm sorry you had to go through that barricade..."

The blond just gave a nod, "Are we okay, then?" Roxas asked, looking over at Axel, "You know I wouldn't sleep with Reno, and I'm sorry but both Reno and Marluxia will probably be angry when they see you later..." he then murmured.

Axel smiled weakly as he looked at Roxas, "They have all right to be angry at me since I treated you like crap, I just... I got overprotective of myself. It was a defence that got overhand and that's why I was so mean to you..."

Roxas shrugged, "Mhm..."

"Can I hug you?" Axel then carefully asked after a while, looking at Roxas who blinked in surprise but then nodded, the redhead scooted over to Roxas and tightly wrapped his arms around the blond, Roxas put his own arms around Axel and took a shaky breath.

"I thought I'd lost you," Roxas said and let out a nervous laugh, "I really thought it was over when I saw you drive away..."

"I'm so sorry, babe," he murmured, "I'm sorry that I hurt you this way, I'll do my best to never act like such a bastard again!"

Roxas sighed as he leant his head against Axels shoulder, "It wouldn't matter to me what you'd do, you could hurt me again... but I know I'd still love you. I'd love you even if you hurt me a hundred times more."

Axels eyes widened and he pulled away a little bit so he could look at Roxas, "Roxy... You... You won't have to take it, me hurting you more. If I hurt you any more I'd not be able to live with myself..."

Roxas smiled softly and looked at Axel, "Then I guess we're fine, 'cause I don't want to hurt you either."

Axel let out a chuckle and stood up, then helping the blond up, "We better leave, it's getting really late."

* * *

When they left the clock tower behind, they walked together, holding hands as they headed for Zacks house. Both were walking in silence, but they enjoyed it none the less since they were finally together again. Once they reached the house, they just walked in, no knocking whatsoever.

"Roxas! ...Axel!" Demyx let out with wide eyes which then narrowed, "Axel!" he repeated, sounding angry.

Marluxia jumped up from the couch, taking a hold of Demyx, "Calm down Dem, let me take this..."

"Guys, it's not necessary to-,"

"Roxas, it **is** necessary, remember what I told you earlier," Marluxia said sternly and crossed his arms before looking at Axel who was starting to look really small, "Axel, that you even **dared** to suggest that Roxas was **whoring himself out** makes me pissed off," he said with a glare at Axel, "You're the biggest drama queen ever and you just had to make assumptions and thus upsetting Roxas to the point where he started to hyperventilate in here and-,"

"Marly, I never hyperventilated so-,"

"Quiet! The point is that you was really upset about it, and thanks to that ass beside you even we judged you and almost gave you the same treatment when you hadn't actually done anything!"

Axel looked down with a look of shame on his face, making Roxas feel bad about it as well. It was probably worse to be scolded this way than being yelled at. Marluxia seemed to have the gift of making people feel guilty, and I mean **really** guilty. And it could be seen clearly on Axels face.

"Guys-,"

"See, he's even trying to protect you! Even though you was mean to him and very, let me repeat, _very_ disrespectful!" Marluxia said and pointed at Axel.

"I know..." Axel murmured, still looking down.

"So I'm even surprised that you consider-,"

"Marluxia!" Roxas said loudly and looked at the pinkette with pleading eyes, "Please... Not now. We just came by here to make sure you knew we were okay. There's been a lot happening in a short time and we're both tired and sorry about this whole thing. We've sorted it out," he said softly and looked up at Axel who looked down to meet his eyes.

"No Roxas, Marluxia is right..." Axel murmured, "I do deserve to hear this. I should never have reacted that way, and I of all people should know better than to basically call you a whore. I'm 10 times more whore than you, believe me," he said and glanced away. And in a way, it was true since Axel had played around a lot before. Maybe a few times for money as well, which wasn't something he was proud of.

Marluxia sighed as he looked at Axel, "Axel, I just want you to get that you have to stop being childish and get angry as soon as something happens, you flee from the problems when you act like this," he said with a look of dislike on his face which soon softened, "But that doesn't mean I want you to stand there and call yourself a whore as well, because I know that you're a great person even though you have some attitude problems..."

Axel kept his eyes directed at the floor and then Marluxia sighed and stepped up to him and pulled the other teen into a hug, "Don't do stuff like this again, okay?" he then asked and parted from Axel.

"I won't. I told Roxas that I will do my best to never hurt him again," Axel murmured.

Roxas sighed and nodded, "But remember what I told you..."

"I do, but I would feel awful. You deserve better than that," he softly said and pulled Roxas into a gentle hug, "Sorry."

"You two are just so cute together..." Demyx said and sniffled as he looked at them, "I love you guys!" he then cried out and Zexion had to take a grip on Demyx so he wouldn't run at them.

Zack sighed but then smiled, "Sorry, Roxas."

Roxas smiled weakly, "It's all right, as I told you earlier; it's something I'm used to."

"The fucktard that did that to you in Hollow Bastion deserves to die!" Demyx cried out.

Axel blinked and looked at Roxas with surprise written all across his face, "Roxas, you told them about what happened in Hollow Bastion?" he asked, still looking very shocked.

Roxas shrugged and then nodded, "Yeah I did... I think I'm starting to accept it more. It still bothers me, but I... It must be good if I can talk about it like this, right? I don't really feel ashamed of it anymore..." Roxas said with a tilted head as he looked at Axel, "And that's thanks to you..."

Axel smiled at Roxas and then kissed his forehead, "That's great, really great Roxas!" he said happily, "That's good, now, don't you think you could report-,"

Roxas immediately shook his head and looked at Axel with wide eyes, "Are you crazy? It's too long ago, there's no evidence and everyone in Hollow Bastion thinks I'm some kind of whore! It would only be humiliating, the only way I'm going back to Hollow Bastion is if I have to go to another one of those stupid doctor examinations, and that was enough for me since I ran into Seifer!"

"Cool down, cool down, I was just suggesting!" Axel said and patted Roxas' head, "If you don't want to, you don't have to."

Roxas sighed and smiled again, "Let's get going, I'm tired..." he said and yawned which made Axel laugh.

"Well guys, see you, and sorry for pulling you into the mess!" he said and scratched his head and then put an arm around Roxas' shoulders, "Good night."

And with that the who teenagers headed for the door, getting several goodbye's back from the others in the house, and hearing some loud complaining from Demyx who apparently didn't want them to leave. Axel and Roxas exchanged a look and laughed as they got into the car, what a day it had been, and both of them were happy that it was over.

The two teens arrived at Axels apartment not so many minutes later, and they didn't get more than through the door before they were greeted by a loud yell, making both of them flinch.

"I'M GOING TO FREAKING KILL YOU!"

"Reno-," Axel said but got cut off by Reno who was looking very upset.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW-," this time Reno was cut off.

"Angry you are? Yeah, I guessed," Axel murmured, looking down but looking up a bit when he felt Roxas squeeze his hand.

"No! Worried, I've been freaking worried!" Reno shouted and looked at Axel, "I was even about to call the police!"

"You... were worried?" Axel asked in surprise, looking at his older brother who looked back at him.

Reno sighed deeply and pulled a hand through his hair, "What do you think, dumbass? I've been pacing around for hours not being able to relAx' since I've had no idea where you've been! You're gonna give me a heart attack one day, Ax'..." he said and shook his head then looked at Roxas in surprise, he had probably not expected the two teens to get back together.

Axel bit his lip as he looked at Reno who really did look tired, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again..." he said and trailed off.

"What about Roxy?" Reno asked after a few seconds of silence, "I hope you've apologized to him and finally gotten that it was an accident, I have Rude you know, yo," he said with narrowed eyes.

Roxas nodded, "He did apologize so don't worry about that..." he said softly and looked at Reno as he leant slightly against Axels right side.

Axel looked down at Roxas and nodded as well, "He found me and talked some sense into me, then Marluxia took over that part... thought Marly would kill me, not that I blame him though," Axel said with a shrug.

"Ax'', you're just... Man, I don't even know what to say..."

"Childish? Impulsive? Stupid? A dickhead?" Axel suggested and let out a slight laugh, "I know what you mean, trust me, I do..." he then added.

"You aren't stupid, and you aren't a dickhead. Childish and impulsive? Yes, that you are, bro," Reno stated with a slight smile.

Axel sighed and nodded, "Reno, Roxas. I'm sorry, I wasn't being fair to either one of you two since I know that neither of you would do that," he said.

Roxas smiled slightly, "You know, I've already forgiven you," he said, "I always will, as I said earlier."

"Yeah, and I'll forgive you as well, but that doesn't mean I'm happy, yo," Reno muttered as he sat down in the couch with a sigh, "Well, FINALLY, I can go to sleep without fearing that you'll end up dead in an alley or something like that!" he then said.

Axel rolled his eyes, "Right, you do that. Rox' and I are going to go sleep as well, see you tomorrow," he said as he pulled Roxas with him into his room, hearing a faint good night from Reno.

Once Axel had closed the bedroom door he groaned and immediately headed over to the bed and threw himself onto it, hugging one of his many pillows. He loved his pillows. Roxas chuckled as he watched the redhead.

"Come on, Rox, let's get to sleep," Axel said as he reached out for Roxas, "Long day equals long sleep..."

Roxas just snorted and headed to the end of the bed where he grabbed the ends of Axels pants and started to pull at them but they didn't really move a lot. With a sigh the blonde climbed up the bed and started to unbuckle Axels belt.

Axel frowned as he looked down at Roxas, "What are you doing? Trying to get into my pants?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

The blonde rolled his eyes as he jumped down from the bed and once more pulled at the redheads pants, this time they came off without much trouble, "No, but you can't sleep with all those clothes on..." he said as he folded the pants and put them on a chair, "Now, are you gonna take your shirt off or will I have to do it for you as well?" Roxas asked as he crossed his arms and looked at Axel who didn't move. Roxas sighed as he headed up to the bed once more, "I should have known," he simply said as he, with pretty much no help from Axel, started to peel the shirt off and it proved to be quite complicated but worked. And soon Roxas was out of his clothes as well, leaving him in underwear and one of Axels big t-shirts.

"Thanks a lot, Roxas," Axel said with a grin as he wrapped his arms around Roxas, "You know you didn't have to," he then added.

"Don't want you to be uncomfortable," Roxas simply said and snuggled up to Axel, "By the way, where do you work?" he asked, all of a sudden remembering that he had been wondering about that earlier.

Axel blinked at the sudden question, "I haven't told you?" he asked and Roxas shook his head, "I work at the CD-shop close to Station Heights, been in there?" he then asked.

"Never been in there, thought about it from time to time though..." Roxas said and looked at Axel and then he let out a laugh, "It's strange that I haven't thought about your work before..."

Axel let out a laugh as well, "Weird yeah... but now... let's just get some sleep, eh?" he questioned and yawned.

Roxas yawned as well and nodded, "Yeah... I love you, Axel..." he murmured.

"Love you too, Rox, love you so damn much..."

With that the two teenagers soon fell asleep, hugging each other closely. Nothing bothering them for the moment.

...If they only knew what a silver haired man had planned out for them... then they wouldn't have been sleeping so soundly.

* * *

**A/N:** And that was chapter 16! Sorry that it didn't include much more than Axel and Roxas angst XD It was supposed to be some more Xemnas and Saix in this chapter but once I had finished this part I noticed that it was 14 pages long so I decided to end it here, next chapter will bring more of he others though!

**Xemnas: **Yes, yes. More of me... -evil laugh- Now please review so we can se what our dear authoress have figured out...  
-shudders- Xemnas is acting scary D:


	17. Chapter 17

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** YAY. It's one of my favourite numbers, I love 3, 7, 8, 9, 13 and 17 :D (And a hell a lot of other numbers when I think of it...)

We've really come far on this story, right? The 4th April, the day I uploaded, I had no idea it would en up this long. I probably thought it would up five chapters, and probably unfinished like most of my other stories. But this story has such a connection to me now. I grew fond of it. It's like... I don't know but it's like my baby, how weird that now might sound... o_O

I've had major problems thinking out Xemnas and Saïx evil plans... And how to get Xigbar into the mix... Gah! Geez... well I'm about to finish this story. It would be nice to stop it at chapter 20 or 23... But as I've said there will be more. A prequel and a sequel, ain't I a nice writer?

**_This version have now been edited! A HUGE thanks to my Beta, PocketRainbow! :D  
CHECK OUT HER BETA NOTE AT THE END XD_**

Thanks to:** keiyoku**, **Ren13013**, **Fallen Wind Rider**, **ChaoticPython**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **What About Today**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Suna's Assassin**, **Mord Sith Matt**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **lovetheHams** & **KooriTheSneak**. Thanks for reviewing last chapter! And thanks to **PocketRainbow**, my fabulous beta reader! Thanks for correcting my mistakes :3

**Warnings: **Language, male x male relationships, violence... Er... yeah.

**Disclaimer: **I OWN IT! -happy dance- Keep yout eyes out for Kingdom Hearts VII:XIII, WITH EXTRA YAOI! ...Okay. I don't. But if I did... then you'd get that T_T

* * *

**Chapter 17**

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"_I don't love you, Roxas, I never did..."_

"_No, no... Axel, please no..." he plead, a desperate grip around his lover's waist, "You can't mean it..."_

"_I'm sorry," he said, with a look void of any emotion, leaving his eyes cold, "I love someone else..."_

_Roxas started to sob, struggling as Axel pried him away. He was fighting to not let his grip go, but the redhead was stronger than Roxas, so he didn't stand a chance. And soon he watched the redhead's back as he left him, all alone in the cold night._

_In the background a man laughed and grinned at him, "Didn't I tell you so?" he said and he also turned and walked away._

"No!"

Roxas woke up panting and with wide eyes. This was his new routine of waking up. No more Cloud shouting his name to wake up. Instead dreaming of Axel leaving. Those dreams had started to show up a week ago, when Axel and Roxas had had that stupid fight. And he was feeling stressed. Some really weird and unnerving things had happened during the week...

First of all he had felt even more stalked than the previous week. This was during the first days of the week. He hadn't been able to get rid of the feeling that he was being followed. He had even complained about it to Cloud. But Cloud had said that it probably had to do with his run-in with Seifer when they were in Hollow Bastion; that it had triggered some kind of paranoia. And at first Roxas had believed this... That was until that blue haired man showed up out of nowhere and threatened him. Yes, you heard me. A complete stranger had threatened Roxas.

Roxas sighed deeply as he sat up and looked at the clock. It was only 5.30. Roxas wouldn't get up before 7 if he could... But nooo.

"Fucking nightmares..." he murmured and let out a heavy sigh. Why couldn't that damn guy just have kept away from him?

You're probably wondering what Roxas had been threatened about, right? Well, Roxas didn't really know himself, he had simply been threatened. The man had told him that he should watch his back, and that if he told Axel about the encounter he'd make sure that Axel would get hurt. Roxas had been scared as hell to say the least, and he hadn't told anyone 'cause if it was something Roxas was sure of, it was that that man had been as serious as hell.

With a wary look at the clock he figured he could get up. Sure it was Sunday... but he wouldn't be able to get to sleep. Maybe he could go out... hadn't Axel said he was going to work today? Maybe he could go and visit him?

"...Wait a moment," he murmured as he looked at his calendar, he was supposed to go to the hospital today... Why? Well apparently some regular health control. Don't ask why now of all times, Roxas thought it was weird aswell.

"Might as well get my ass moving..." he said with a sigh. Sure his appointment wasn't this early, but he could always walk around for a few hours. It was better than lying in bed and wondering why the heck that blue haired man had threatened him. What had Roxas done wrong? And who was that guy? ...Would it be all right to tell Marluxia about it?

Roxas let out another sigh as he started to get dressed properly and not much later he silently walked into the kitchen, grabbed an apple, and headed out. Maybe he should have left a note for Cloud... but he did have a phone for a reason, right?

Roxas let out a moan in annoyance as he walked around in the hospital. First of all it showed up that he had written down the wrong day of the appointment. Secondly, he didn't even have to do a regular health control, so he had no idea why he even had gotten that in his head. And now, thirdly... he found himself lost in the rather large hospital. It seemed he was at a pretty quiet part of it though. He walked through a corridor with doors but no people. He sighed as he looked at the doors. Different names, probably patients... Robert Smith... Samantha Jones... Catherine... Larxene...

...Wait a moment... Where did he know that name from?! Roxas' eyes widened as he was hit by realisation. Larxene was the girl that Axel had tried to save who had gone into a coma! He wouldn't forget such a strange name for a while!

He just stood there and stared at the door. Why did he feel this really big need to go inside and talk to this person? Oh well... He couldn't talk to someone who was in a coma, right? But then, Roxas had been able to hear most of the things Cloud had told him...

The blonde bit his lip as he looked around; there were no signs of life or sounds whatsoever... He hesitantly reached for the door and pulled at the handle.

_Click._

"It's open?" he quietly asked himself as he slid the door open and then stepped inside before carefully closing it behind himself.

Roxas looked around; the room was completely white and boring. There was a single bed in there as well, with a young woman in it... She had blonde hair. With two antennas. Yes, they looked like antennas... But Roxas didn't put any bigger weight on that. His hair wasn't exactly normal either. Or Clouds. Or Axels.

The blonde teen sighed as he walked up to a chair which stood beside the bed. He sat down and looked at the table beside him. A picture stood there. A picture of the girl, Larxene, and most of the gang. Obviously Sora wasn't on the picture since he recently had joined the gang. There was an addition though... must have been Xaldin. He turned his gaze back to Larxene and sighed once more.

"So you're Larxene..." he softly said as he looked at her, "I don't know if you hear me but it's nice to meet you..." he said. It felt a bit weird, talking to someone who was in a coma. He had been there as well though, and he had heard. So why wouldn't she hear him?

"You don't know me, but my name is Roxas Hikari... not that that tells you anything, right?" he asked, almost jokingly, "...Axel must really have cared about you, he's really blaming himself for what happened to you. He hadn't told me about what happened, Marluxia did... And I worry about him... It's quite tough now. It's enough with that blue haired guy threatening me, man..."

Once more he sighed, making it about the 10th sigh in just the hospital.

"You should wake up soon," Roxas said, looking at her, "I... I'm sure Axel would be very happy. And all of the others... I don't think they think I notice, but they seem a bit sad from time to time. I see that on Axel most of all, I... I'm together with him actually. Maybe Axel has been here and talked about it..." he trailed off, "Or maybe not... I don't have any clue about your relationship... Maybe you were together once," Roxas thoughtfully said with a raised eyebrow, "It wouldn't bother me, I already know about him and Marly..."

"You... gotta be kidding me..." a voice said which made Roxas yelp and even fall out of his chair, the chair followed Roxas and fell to the floor with a clattering sound, "The fucking porcupine... can't shut up about ya..."

Roxas' eyes widened as he looked up at the bed. She was freaking talking to him! She was awake! She even smirked at him! She, as in Larxene, was definitely **not** in a coma!

"Y-y-y-you are supposed to be in a coma!" he screeched and pointed at her as if he had seen a ghost, "You're awake!"

She let out a laugh and smirked again, "I've been out of the coma for about a week," she said with a shrug, "This hospital sucks when it comes to letting people know things..." she then added and rolled her eyes, making a grimace, "Bastards not even giving me a phone to call..."

Roxas just kept staring at her before he stood up and after that put the chair back at his place before slowly sitting down again.

"Well, it's nice that someone comes and see me..." she said with a sigh and then looked at Roxas, "I don't think the others know," she said with a shrug, "So you're Axels new love material?" she then asked, still smirking.

Roxas blushed and stuttered. This girl was really something... Well, Marluxia **had** called her the bitch of their gang, Roxas could only guess there was a reason behind that statement, "Y-y-yeah I guess so..." he said, still blushing.

She snickered and shook her head a bit, "Oh I've missed out on a lot... Didn't think Mr. Horny would settle down... Don't get me wrong, he loves you. You're all he's been talking about lately... Told me about your coma, tough luck kid," she said and smirked, "Not nice, eh?"

The other teen shook his head. It hadn't been nice at all.

"Did he tell you something more?" he asked, not sure how talkative Axel had been when he had been visiting Larxene.

She shrugged, "If you're talking 'bout that shit that happened to ya in your old town? Then yeah," she said, "Don't be angry at him though..."

Roxas shook his head, "Of course not..." he trailed off. He couldn't blame Axel for it, of course the redhead had to talk about things with someone as well, it would only be selfish to ask that Axel would walk around bearing both his own and Roxas' burdens. Not exactly fair, right?

"And you said something about a blue haired guy threatening you... Please tell me he didn't have long hair and a scar on his face?" she asked with narrowed eyes. Roxas was almost scared to tell her that it indeed was like that.

"Actually... he did have a scar on his face," he said and trailed off, thinking about the encounter, "B-but he said he'd hurt Axel if I told him about it... he can't know," he then said in a quiet voice, looking down at the floor.

Larxene closed her eyes and growled, "That bastard..."

"Who is it?" Roxas asked with wide eyes, "Please..."

She opened up her eyes again, "Xemnas' partner, if ya know who that damn Xemnas is..." she muttered, not sounding happy at all, "Heard he was back in town."

Roxas nodded slowly, "The one who did this to you..." he replied with seriousness, "Marluxia told me... Axel doesn't know that I know."

Larxene rolled her eyes, "Typical Axel, don't want to burden others with his problems... I can't wait to get out of here, gonna show Axel what I think of it... what did Saïx, the guy, say anyway?" she asked.

"That I should watch my back, and that he'd hurt Axel if I told him about the threat..." Roxas said, "I... I can't really relax about it. It feels as if I'm followed around all the time outside!" he exclaimed and groaned.

"You probably are..." Larxene said with a shrug, "Would be something Xemnas would fix... I tell ya, if you ever see him... You need to-,"

"Get away from him," Roxas said with a nod, "Marluxia told me..." he then added at Larxenes slightly confused look.

She sighed and nodded, "I'd love to chat with ya some more but I'd like for you to tell Axel and the others that I'm bored to death, could ya do that, sweetie?" she asked with a smirk as Roxas started blushing again.

"Y-y-yeah, I was on my way to the shop Axel works in either way..." he murmured and then stood up, feeling a bit hesitant about what to do, "Er..."

"For the heck of it..." Larxene muttered as she pushed herself up in a sitting position, "Come here, gimme a hug," she said, not sounding especially affectionate. It sounded more like a demand, but Roxas had a feeling this wasn't something she did often.

Roxas blinked but did step up to her and hugged her. It felt a bit awkward but still nice.

"You looked like you needed one," she then said with a smirk and let go of him, "Now go get Axel for me, cutie," she said with a slight grin on her face, "And don't let that blush burn your face up, I'm sure Axel would be disappointed!" she called as Roxas stumbled out of the door, stuttering out a good bye.

Oh God! How was he supposed to explain this to Axel?! Axel had no idea about Roxas knowing about Larxene and now all of a sudden he knew?!

"Get a grip!" Roxas told himself as he got into an elevator. Axel wouldn't care about that, besides it had been Marluxia who had told Roxas. And Roxas had honestly practically forgotten about it. He hadn't really thought of it before now, when he had seen Larxenes name on the door. He sighed as he got out of the elevator and left the building.

...Hm, was it that easy to get out? How had he gotten lost in the first place?

Well, as soon as he realized he was outside he pretty much started running. He wanted to get to the store fast. Preferably before it opened up, not that he thought there would be any customers there so early, who'd get up about 8-9 on a Sunday just to buy games or CDs? Only if it was a new release...

It took him 10 minutes to reach the store, and he started to knock on the door, completely out of breath... He felt a little bit disgusting, sweaty and all. But he needed to tell Axel about this now, then maybe he'd feel less guilty! And they needed to know about Larxene waking up!

"Come on, open up!" Roxas bellowed as he slammed his fist against the door. Now he heard loud swearing from inside and Roxas had to jump back when the door was opened up to reveal an angry looking redhead.

"Opens at 10, not 9!" he hissed but then looked surprised as he noticed it was Roxas standing there, completely out of breath, "...Roxas?" he said in surprise.

"Listen Axel-,"

"What are you doing here?" the redhead asked, cutting Roxas off in his sentence.

"Axel! Shut up! I need to tell you this, Larxene has woken up!" Roxas then blurted out. Wow, that had been easier than he first thought...

Axel stared at him like he thought Roxas had gone mad, "How do you..." he trailed off and frowned, apparently he was a bit suspicious about the fact that Roxas knew...

Roxas sighed and shook his head, not at all in the mood to explain, "Marluxia. But that doesn't matter now! Larxene's awake! I was at the hospital today, no I'm all right, and I got lost and found her room and I just sat there and spoke to her thinking she was in that coma but then she answered me and she called you a porcupine and that she had been awake for a week!" Roxas rambled on, which left him even more out of breath than he had been before. Which wasn't that weird since he still needed to catch his breath from his long run.

The redhead still stared at him, but now he looked shocked and a sparkle of hope got into his eyes, "You... you really spoke to her, you spoke to Larxene?" he asked, looking for confirmation.

"Yeah! Blonde, weird antenna hair-do, calling you a porcupine, being a slight bitch in general..." Roxas said and blushed, "She's awake, Axel, and she wants to see you guys," he then seriously stated.

"You really are serious, right?" Axel asked, still looking shocked and Roxas just nodded, "Shit... Then I'm closing the store, my boss owes me a few either way!" he said and started to go through his pockets in hunt of keys, and soon he found them and locked the door.

"Please say that you got a car cause I can't handle running to all the guys," Roxas moaned with a tired expression.

"Yeah, but we're calling them," he said and looked at Roxas, "We need to call Demyx, Zexion, Zack, Marluxia and Naminé... You call Marluxia and Zexion, I'll get Demyx and Zack, the one who finishes first calls Nami, all right?" he asked Roxas who nodded, getting his cell phone up. Both walked a few meters apart to not confuse each other.

Roxas sighed as he flipped through his numbers, soon finding Marluxias number and calling him. Roxas tapped his foot against the ground impatiently as he awaited an answer.

"_**Who, in the name of God, dares to wake me up before 10!"**_ Marluxias almost horrified voice was heard over the phone line. Roxas had had a feeling that Marluxia was the kind of person who needed his beauty sleep, and now it was confirmed.

"It's me, Roxas-,"

"_**Roxas? Has something happened? Is Axel a jerk again? Do you need me to co-,"**_

"Just listen, I... Larxene is awake, okay? Don't ask, just... just get your ass to the hospital, all of us, the gang will meet outside, kay?" Roxas quickly asked.

"_**Wh-what? Are you serious, Roxas?!"**_

"Do you think I'd joke about something like this?!" Roxas asked, sounding upset.

"_**N-no, of course not! I'll get over there, see you!" **_and with that a click was heard.

Roxas took a few moments to look over at Axel who was started to sound annoyed.

"Demyx! Listen to me, you don't need to know that now! Just get your fucking ass over to the hospital without any complaints! **NOW!**"

Roxas sighed as he flipped through more numbers, soon ending up at Zexions number. And the emo was fast as hell to pick up his phone.

"_**Hello, Roxas,"**_he simply answered.

"Zexion, you need to get to the hospital now, Larxene's awake!" Roxas said, hoping he'd get no trouble by Zexion, "And no, don't ask how come I know, just get there!"

"_**Sure, I'm on my way. See you,"**_ and then, a click.

Roxas sighed, by the sounds of it Axel had just gotten off of Demyx and was now cursing as he dealt the number to next annoying teen, Zack.

So the blonde started to flip through his numbers and reached Namine´s number.

"_**Hello, Roxas?"**_

"Hello Nami, I need you to come to the hospital, this sounds weird coming from me, I know, but Larxene is awake... just come there and we'll explain, please?" Roxas pleaded.

"_**I-I... Oh I'm so happy! Y-yes, I'll come as fast as I can, bye!"**_

And with that Roxas turned to look at Axel who just shoved his phone down his pocket with a quiet annoyed expression before getting his car keys up.

"Ready?" he asked with a look at his boyfriend who nodded, "Let's go then!"

And with that they drove off to the hospital.

Once Roxas had explained his meeting with Larxene everyone was stunned to say the least, and happy, very happy. Namine was silently crying, Marluxia and Demyx were both bawling, in each other's arms. Zack and Zexion were jumpy and Axel was all twitchy. It was weird to see them like that... So when they were outside the room Roxas motioned for them to enter, he even had to push Axel a bit forward.

"Go on, she wants to see you..." he said and looked at Axel who then took the first step, and opened the door. Then they all slowly disappeared into the room. Roxas standing outside alone, not wanting to be a bother. After all he had only been a part of the gang for a couple of months... They had known Larxene for years. So he figured out they'd want some private time to speak. With a sigh he sank down to the floor since there were no chairs here. Why would there be? It was only people in coma there...

"Excuse me, mister?" a nurse asked, "Are you familiar with Larxene Savage?" she asked.

Roxas blinked, "Kind of, she has some friends visiting right now. I just met her today, she told me that she wanted her friends to come... I hope I didn't do anything wrong by taking them here..." he then said, looking a bit worried.

"No, no, no! She has been trying to get in touch with you all, but it seems she only has old numbers..." she explained and Roxas nodded, "Well then I'll be on my way, bye," she said and left Roxas alone once more.

"SHORT STUFF!" a yell was heard from the room, that was Larxenes voice, Roxas groaned as he pushed himself up and poked his head into the room.

"I'm not that short..." he grumbled with a look at the bug. Yes, if Larxene referred to him as short stuff he was going to refer to her as a bug

"What the heck are you doing outside?! Come in!" she demanded, everyone was benched around her, some on chairs, some on the edge of her bed. Axel sat in an armchair next to her, he had red and puffy eyes, tears running down his face which only could be described as tears of happiness.

"I-I just figured you wanted to talk and-,"

"Man, just get in and sit down, there's no chair so use Axel!" she demanded and Roxas' eyes widened but he did walk up to Axel who gently pulled Roxas down into his lap and kissed his cheek, "You're a part of the gang now, that means you're a part of the family. And if you're a part of the family, then it doesn't matter how long anyone has known anyone!" she said in a scolding tone, "Remember that, short stuff," she added with a smirk.

"I'm not short!" he growled once more

Axel chuckled and leant his head against Roxas' shoulder, kissing his collarbone...

"A-A-A-Axel!" Roxas squeaked and went beat red as he felt Axels lips against his bare neck, "S-stop it!" sure Roxas had learnt to handle Axels "molesting" to a certain degree, but having Axel almost suck on him in public? Uh... no. That was not tolerable.

"Ooops, sorry, forgot your neck has such sensitive skin..." he purred. And Roxas knew he hadn't forgotten. Axel would remember such things.

"You two have done it, right?" Larxene suddenly asked and the room went dead silent.

A blush made its way up Roxas' face, and down his throat. Which was enough of an answer, and it made the others gasp. Apparently they had had no idea.

"How did you-," Demyx started but was cut off by Larxene.

"I can't believe you guys..." Larxene said with a moan, "It's obvious that they have had sex! Look at them, they'd never be so comfortable with each other if they hadn't done **everything**!"

"WHAT?! When?!" Zack let out with wide eyes.

"T-t-that's personal!" Roxas screeched.

"I KNOW! Two weeks ago! He limped!" Marluxia then all of a sudden cut in with wide eyes as he accusingly pointed at Roxas.

"Oh my GAWD! ROXAS! You let Axel do you?! Was he good? Was it good in general?!" Demyx asked with wide eyes.

"Shut up!" Roxas whined as he covered his face with his hands, and he would have gone even redder if he could, "You've no right to know that!" he then said with muffled voice.

Axel actually blushed a bit as well, "Yeah, I'm with Roxas on this one..." he said and cleared his throat.

"I can't believe you two!" Marluxia said with wide eyes.

"So, how long have you been together?" Larxene asked with a raised eyebrow, "Dear Axie here isn't too specific when talking to a person in a coma..." she trailed off and glared at Axel.

Roxas blinked and bit his lip as he thought, "It's... two months?" he suggested with a look to Axel who nodded, "But I've been here for three or more..."

Axel laughed, "Yeah, and I almost busted your head open..."

"You **did** bust my head open, I got a freaking concussion!" Roxas exclaimed with wide eyes, "And don't get me started on my back!"

Larxene blinked, "What?" she said in confusion, apparently Axel hadn't told her the story about how they met.

Demyx and Zack both couldn't help chuckling at the memory of that day they had met Roxas. Even thought they had been afraid that they had killed Roxas it was still quite a funny memory.

Roxas sighed and crossed his arms as he stuck his tongue out at Axel, "My first day here I climbed a tree at lunch 'cause I didn't want to eat with the preps... And I fell asleep and Axel was smart enough to yell at me so I woke up. I fell down the tree and hit my head and back hard..."

"Ah, good times... You called me pretty hair that day," Axel said with a chuckle. Roxas sighed but was interrupted by a buzzing sound from his pocket, which almost made Axel jump since Roxas was sitting on him.

He blinked and picked the phone up... And then he groaned. He was so not in mood for this. Axel tilted his head.

"Who is it?" he asked, trying to get a look at the display as the phone played "I'm A Barbie Girl".

"Cloud," Roxas said with a look of distaste on his face.

That made most of the people in the room laugh, probably at the choice of ring tone for Cloud. For some reason he just thought that song just fitted. With a deep sigh Roxas pushed the button and put the phone at a safe distance from his ear just in case of...

"_**WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"**_

Right. In case of that.

"Uh... at the hospital..." Roxas replied, feeling a little bit scared of his older brother, "I just kind of... couldn't sleep and went up early and-,"

"_**You can't fucking leave just like that Roxas! At least leave a note! Do you have any idea how freaking worried I've been?!"**_

"Why didn't you just call me?" Roxas asked in surprise, "I always keep my phone with me..."

"_**You, Roxas, are grounded for next weekend." **_CLICK.

Roxas stared blankly at the phone which he now held in front of him...

Axel cleared his throat and poked Roxas' cheek, "What just happened?" he asked.

Roxas just stared at the phone in his hands, trying to process what the heck Cloud had told him, and then he sighed, "I think I just got grounded for next weekend..." he said and scratched his head, "For nothing..."

Zack blinked at this, "Aw, Roxy, don't worry!" he chirped, "I'll talk to Cloud, you have to know how to rub him the right way!" he happily said.

Larxene raised an eyebrow, "Cloud's gay as well?" she asked with a look to Roxas who shrugged and gave a slight smile, meaning that yeah, he probably was, "Didn't think that. I've talked with him on some occasions."

"Please, Larx, if a man looks at you they'll turn gay in a second," Axel said and not much later he was hit in the head by a book that she had flung on him, "OUCH! Damn it, I was joking!" he cursed as he rubbed the spot where the book had hit him. Aw man, he was going to have a bump there, he just knew it! And he should have known better than to pick on Larxene of all people.

And then, once more, Roxas' phone decided to start buzzing.

"What the hell is it with the world and calling me?!" he exclaimed as he brought his phone up once more, surprised at seeing that it was Cloud calling again, with a sigh he picked up, "Hello?"

"_**I... I'm sorry about my outburst, I'm just a bit jumpy for some reason... You're not grounded and you're 17, I trust you and as you said you always keep your phone with you. I just wanted to apologize..."**_

Roxas blinked, "We... apology accepted," he said and then frowned, "Are you okay?"

"_**O-oh, nothing wrong, nothing at all... I'll just... Never mind. Do... do you want to maybe... order out today? Maybe watch a movie?"**_

"Yeah, that sounds great, but only if you get some chips," Roxas teasingly said, to lighten up the mood, Cloud almost sounded nervous by asking this from his brother.

"_**Haha, I feel so loved. Of course I'll get chips, when can I expect you home latest?"**_

"I won't be away for longer than 5pm," he stated.

"_**Ah, perfect. See you around then, and be careful,"**_

"Yeah, you too, bye," he said and then hung up.

Axel tilted his head, "What was that about?"

"It was Cloud again..." Roxas said with a confused expression, "He just wanted to call and say he was sorry. Apparently I'm not grounded any more... But he was acting a bit weird, almost nervous..." he sighed and pulled a hand through his hair, "I... maybe I should get home to make sure nothing is wrong..."

"Aw... you're going to leave me?" Axel asked with a pout on his face as he looked at Roxas who rolled his eyes but smiled and walked up to his boyfriend and stood on the tip of his toes to reach up and place a soft kiss on his lips, "Okay, I guess you can leave..." he then said with a sigh but then pulled Roxas closer to him and kissed him once more, "Will you call later?"

Roxas chuckled as he took a few steps back, "Of course, if you don't call me first..." he said with a wink.

Axel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, we'll talk later either way!" he said.

"Yeah," Roxas said and smiled before looking around at everyone else and then waving, "Bye, see you in school tomorrow, and nice to meet you, Larxene," he added before opening the door, hearing the faint sounds of the others saying bye to him as well.

With a sigh Roxas left the hospital. Something hadn't seemed right with Cloud... well, maybe he was just stressed, as always. He seemed to be more angsty than Roxas from time to time. But Roxas couldn't really blame him.

'I might as well take a walk...' he thought as he headed into the underground system of Twilight Town. Axel had been the one to show him that it actually was possible to move through whole Twilight in those systems. You could even get to Sunset Terrace without going by the train from Station Heights. That equalled no money loss.

He smiled as he walked around down there, sure it was cold, big and empty... but somehow he liked it down there. There weren't many people who used these systems.

"I thought I told you to not tell anyone about me," a smooth voice was heard which made Roxas almost stop breathing, "Apparently I didn't make myself perfectly clear about it..." he trailed of and Roxas slowly turned around, looking at the man behind him.

"S-Saïx?" he questionned and the man just smirked with a cold look in his eyes.

He let out a cold laugh as he slowly walked up to Roxas, "Yes, that would be my name..."

Roxas watched the man and walked backwards as Saïx approached. Somehow he had a feeling that this man was as dangerous as that Xemnas guy... He felt trapped.

"What do you want?" Roxas asked in a whisper.

Saïx laughed and shook his head as he reached for something inside his jacked, soon pointing a gun at Roxas, "Oh, I don't want anything. I'm just carrying out what Xemnas wants," he said and smirked, "And he wants me to take you to him."

Not good. This was not good at all. The blonde quickly looked around, trying to find some kind of help, but it was hopeless. Saïx was pointing a gun at him, there was no idea in running...

"This is illegal..." Roxas said weakly, trying to find something that could make Saïx change his mind and leave Roxas alone. But if he had helped Xemnas before then he probably wouldn't bend over for such a pathetic excuse. The man did certainly know that what he was doing was illegal...

"Come here and I won't shot you," Saïx said, ignoring Roxas' earlier statement, "I bet Axel wouldn't like to get you back with a bullet hole right through you... And I did tell Xemnas I'd do my best to get you in one piece..."

Roxas bit his lip before sighing in defeat. There was no use in doing anything else. He wasn't ready to die yet... but who knew what would happen when he met Xemnas? In defeat he walked up to Saïx who smirked and reached for something more inside of his jacket, and before Roxas could react he had a wet cloth covering his nose and mouth.

He did struggle... but it didn't take long before everything went black and the last thing he heard was Saïx' distant voice ringing through the darkness.

"_Sweet dreams, Roxas..."_

Axel sighed as he looked out of the hospital window, a distant look on his face. Demyx looked over at Axel before looking at Larxene with an apologetic expression on his face.

"He's really attached to Roxas, as you can see..." Demyx said with a chuckle, Axel wasn't even reacting at hearing them talk, "He's often spacing out when Roxas isn't around, guess he really loves him," he then softly said.

Larxene nodded and then sighed as she looked around. Most of them had left by now. Zack had to work, Naminé had to go home and have dinner with her parents. Marluxia had gone into panic over his flowers and Larxene had told Zexion to get home and read since he was his usual "emo" self. And that left Larxene alone with Axel and Demyx who both had been there for hours now. But Axel had started spacing about half an hour ago.

"Demyx," she seriously said, "Is it true that Xemnas and Saïx are in town?" she asked quietly, not wanting Axel to hear about it.

Demyx glanced over at Axel before looking at Larxene and nodding, "I'm not sure about Saïx but Xemnas is in town..." he murmured.

"Saïx as well," Larxene muttered, "Short stuff said he ran into him... You guys better keep a close eye on him. You know what Xemnas wants..."

Demyx nodded and glanced at Axel again before sighing, "I hope they won't try anything again..."

"I bet they will," Larxene darkly said, "Why would they be back otherwise?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Axel all of a sudden asked with tilted head, looking at the other two in the room.

Larxene blinked, "Uh that we should be careful since Xemnas is back in town..." she cautiously said and it did make Axel tense up a bit, "Axel, get a grip!" she hissed when she noticed the immediate change in his posture.

"He killed Xaldin, and almost you!" Axel hissed with clenched fists, "To get to me, so don't you tell me to get a grip!"

"You have to!" Larxene argued back, "Think about short stuff! You have to get a grip if you want to keep short stuff safe from that bastard!"

"Axel, she's right... We've no clue what Xemnas has in mind right now, but that he's back can't be good..." Demyx cautiously said, afraid of Axels reaction.

The redhead looked at him for a while before letting out a sigh and pulling his long and slender fingers through his hair, "I know that you're right..." he muttered, "I just... I just don't want to deal with Xemnas again," he then added, sounding annoyed.

"We know, I don't like the thought either," Larxene said with a shrug, "Look at me, I've been out since he was here last time, and now I wake up and he's back. Great. Well, you two should get back home. You've got school tomorrow, right?" she asked and both nodded, "Get out and leave me alone then! You can come back another time but I'm freaking tired now!" she said, sounding annoyed. But this wasn't anything new to either Axel or Demyx who both hurried out of the room before Larxene got a chance to throw something at them.

Axel sighed once they had gotten out of the hospital. The fresh air was nice... he had never been a fan of hospitals. They smelled weird and were kind of scary...

"Man, she's still a bitch," he said with a chuckle but smiled as he walked up to his car, Demyx walking up to the passenger's side of the car, grinning.

"Yeah, but still we love her," he said and laughed as they got into the car.

Axel smiled as he looked at Demyx and then at his watch, "It's nearly 3..." he said with a frown on his face, "Would it seem too desperate if I called Roxas now?" he then asked with a look at Demyx.

"Not at all!" Demyx chirped, "I call Zexion aaaall the tiiiime!"

Axel rolled his eyes as he picked up his phone. Yeah, compared to Demyx it was nothing. Axel could just imagine poor Zexion when he was reading... being interrupted by Demyx calling him. Time after time... He knew that Zexion had gone so far as pulling out the cable for his home telephone. And shutting off his cellphone. But Demyx had just gone home to Zexion then... It was a miracle that Zexion never got really angry at Demyx.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Come on... Pick up, Rox," Axel muttered as he started to look for his car key, since it would be hard to drive anywhere without it.

"_**Hello, this is Roxas... I'm not available for the moment so please leave a message after the beep or try calling later." **_**BEEP.**

Axel frowned as he looked over at Demyx, "He's not answering..." he said and bit his lip.

"Maybe he didn't notice?" Demyx suggested but looked a bit worried as well, "Just call home, he was going to get back to Cloud, right?" he asked and Axel nodded as he dealt the home number. This time the phone was picked up fast.

"_**Hello, this is Cloud speaking."**_

"Hey, Cloud, is Roxas home? I didn't reach him through his cellphone..." Axel said and closed his eyes for a moment. He couldn't help worrying about Roxas.

"_**...No, he isn't home yet... Isn't he with you?"**_

"He left hours ago, saying he was gonna get home," Axel said, starting to feel panic well up inside of him. He knew Roxas liked to go on walks, but he didn't think the blonde would be out for hours, especially not when it was getting colder outside.

"_**A-are you serious?!"**_

"Shit... Yeah I am, I'm gonna try and call again and then look for him, all right? Please call if you get in touch with him?" Axel pleadingly said.

"_**Yeah, the same goes for you!"**_

With that Axel hung up on Cloud and looked at Demyx who was looking anxious as well.

"He's not home..." Axel stated, and Demyx had probably already guessed that that was the case.

"Try calling again, maybe he..." Demyx trailed off, apparently not having any good theories about what could be wrong.

Axel sighed but dealt Roxas number once more and put the phone against his ear.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee-._

Axel sighed in relief before talking, "Damn it, Roxas, have you got any clue how worried I get when you're not answering and not home?!" he asked in annoyance.

"_**I deeply apologize, Axel, but didn't you hear that Roxas isn't available?"**_

Axel felt how he grew cold inside. Once more the panic was back... this wasn't what he had hoped for...

"What have you done to Roxas?" he immediately asked, fearing the worst. He knew what Xemnas was capable of doing. He didn't want Roxas to be killed.

"_**It hurts me that you think that way," **_Xemnas said and sighed, _**"He's just knocked out, he'll probably wake up soon so don't worry about his health..." **_he trailed off. Axel could hear that the bastard was smirking.

"What the hell do you want with him them?!" Axel growled, "Just let him go, you bastard! Roxas has't done a thing to you!"

"_**I don't think so Axel, you've got a debt to me. And Roxas is going to be the one who gets to pay for you. You do know what I mean, don't you?"**_

"I' warning you, Xemnas..." Axel said, sounding scared, "If you touch him I'll-,"

"_**Ah, but you don't know where I am," **_Xemnas said and chuckled, _**"Either way, I'm not doing anything now. I need a little bit of time to think. And you should think of a very good reason to make me let him go, or else... Well, use your imagination," **_he said, making Axel shake in anger and fear of what he could to, _**"I'll keep in touch, Axel..."**_

**Click.**

Axel dropped the phone and just stared straight ahead. How could this have happened? Why had he let Roxas walk alone? What would Xemnas do to Roxas? And what in the world could Axel offer to make Xemnas let go of him?

"Axel?" Demyx said with a really scared voice, "Pl-please don't tell me..."

"It's happening again," Axel said, "Xemnas has Roxas..."

Demyx let out a weak whimper as he buried his face in his hands. And all Axel could do was keep starring forward. He was in no state to move, and absolutely not to drive the car. It felt like he had just been thrown back into a nightmare, a nightmare he had fought so much to get out of earlier. And now he was back there. Once more, scared out of his mind. Once more, someone he loved was in Xemnas' claws because of something he had done years ago...

"What have I done?" Axel asked himself in despair, not able to get rid of a mental picture of Roxas. Roxas, lying dead on the ground.

* * *

**A/N:** Do it. Kill me for ending this chapter like this D: BUT! Remember that IF you kill me then I wont be able to finish this fic! And then... then... -trails off-  
_  
_

**B/N:** (lol beta's note) -appears out of nowhere with a pair of binoculars and throws a book at you- Axelleeeeee!!! You're being eviiiil this chapter! T-T poor reader-sans! You must apologize next chapter for being so evil! I'm sure you've been talking to Mansex too much! *hits Saix* Didn't I tell you to stop them from talking to each other!? DIDN'T I?!

**Xemnas: **Kukuku~ -evil laugh- Review, dear readers... review and I might spare Roxas! -more evil laughing-

...I think that's up for me to decide, Xemmy.


	18. Chapter 18

**Someone Else's Shadow**

**A/N:** NYAAAH! Why does every chapter keep getting longer than the previous one? D: I guess it isn't something bad, but I remember when my usual standard was 10-11 pages. This chapter is 15 freaking pages! XD Well I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. It was fun to write this~  
And I did say I was going to update fast, didn't I? ;D

And to reply to my beta (PocketRainbow) who left a note in previous chapter: Axelle couldn't help doing what she did! IT'S XEMNAS'S FAULT! XD (Yah, I'm Axelle xD)

Now, time to go on!

**Thanks to: Kinara** (even though you threatened to kill me XD), **What About Today**, **SkyeFlyte**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **Organization-XIII-Roxas**, **Melodious Authoress**, **Suna's Assassin**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **keiyoku**, **Ren13013**, **KooriTheSneak**, **kit572**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **Fallen Wind Rider**, **kawaiichibiroxas**, **The Infamous Me**, **FatFreeBacon**, **Ally Montgomery**, **Mord Sith Matt** & **AkuRokuTurkTrainee**. And

**Warnings: **Language, sexual content, boy x boy relationships, violence. (I think that covers it up...)  
_This is the unedited version, but as soon as my beta have looked it through I'll update the document!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own KH and I will never do... Sadly that is. Sadly... T3T

* * *

**Chapter 18**

When Roxas started to wake up from what felt like a several hour long sleep he groaned. His head was hurting and his eyelids felt really heavy. Not like any natural sleep. And what also wasn't right that he was lying on a hard and cold surface.

He blinked a few times before he slowly moved his head around and then pushed himself up in sitting position, closing his eyes for a moment since he felt very dizzy. What the hell had happened? Everything was so fuzzy, like his memories were all messed up...

He had... he had been at the hospital. Right, he had talked to Larxene. He had gotten Axel and the gang to talk to her. He had talked to Cloud and had decided to head home but take a walk before and then...

"Saïx!" he exclaimed with wide eyes, that was the person behind this. Saïx was the last thing he remembered before waking up!

A snicker was heard and Roxas turned his head to see a silver haired man sit in an armchair, watching Roxas, "So you've awakened... and apparently remembers what happened," he then added with a smirk on his face.

Roxas stared at the man, suddenly feeling very scared, "Wh-what do you want with me? Y-you're Xemnas, right?" he asked with a cautious look on him.

"Indeed, that's who I am," he said, still smirking, "And what I want from you is simply to make Axel pay... I bet you've no idea what kind of debt Axel has to me. Now he wont be able to run any longer, since I've got you..."

Roxas frowned, "What? What debt do Axel have to you?" he asked, feeling very confused. He had heard nothing about Axel being in debt to Xemnas. Marluxia hadn't mentioned it... maybe Axel hadn't told anyone about it?

Xemnas laughed and shook his head, "It's complicated, Roxas, but I'll make him pay..." he trailed off and licked his lips, "I've always wanted to make him pay. Last time wasn't enough..."

Roxas swallowed as he kept looking at Xemnas, "What are you going to do to him?" he asked, almost scared of what kind of answer he might get from the older man. He was even surprised at seeing Xemnas, he must be a man getting close to his thirties... Roxas had thought he was in Axel's age as well. Why had he been involved with this freak?

"Sure you want to know?" Xemnas cooed, "Well I'm going to destroy him. When I've made Axel pay... he wont be able to live any longer. He'll be as good as dead," he said with a satisfied smirk on his face. Roxas could immediately see that Xemnas was a very sick man. A sick man who was capable of doing almost anything...

Roxas's eyes widened and he shook his head, "No... you can't..." he said.

Xemnas raised an eyebrow as he got up from his chair and started approaching Roxas, "Actually I recently spoke to Axel," he said, showing Roxas his cellphone, it made the blonde unconsciously shove his hands into his pockets, to confirm it actually was his phone, "And I gave him some time to think about something that would make me let you go..." he trailed off before licking his lips once more, looking at Roxas as if the blonde just was a pray for him, "But we could arrange something as well."

"Like what?" Roxas asked, his voice could barely be heard, but Xemnas had gotten so close to him at the moment that he could hear it.

"I'll not touch your precious Axel if we make a little deal..." he said and smirked, "It will... harm Axel, for sure. But I will spare his life..."

Roxas had a feeling which way this was heading and he didn't like the sound of it. But he couldn't have Axel get killed either. He would rather die than have Axel die. But the bad thing was that if Roxas died... he had a feeling Axel wouldn't be able to live either. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Was a normal life too much to ask for?

"I think you have a little hint of what I'm talking about, you're a smart kid, Roxas," Xemnas said and stroke a finger along Roxas's cheek, "Let me fuck you senseless, with you actually participating in it... and I'll let you go. Without killing Axel. And then I'll leave town," he said and smirked.

Roxas closed his eyes and twitched when he felt Xemnas touch his face. It was by his hands Larxene had been in that coma. It was by his hands Xaldin had been killed. And now Xemnas wanted to "fuck him senseless"? How would Roxas feel after that? He just felt disgusted by Xemnas touching him... could he really have sex with him and actually try to pretend he enjoyed it?

"What's the catch?" Roxas asked, it felt a bit weird that all Xemnas was asking for was sex. He did want to get to Axel, didn't he?

"Smart indeed..." the older man mused and then smirked, "The catch, is that Axel is going to watch," he then added with an evil smile creeping up on his face.

Roxas's eyes widened, "I can't do that..." he said and shook his head, "N-no... I can't..."

Xemnas shrugged and raised an eyebrow, "Well it's up to you. It's that or I'll simply wait for Axel to find us and I'll deal with him and then fuck you senseless and kill you both, does that sound better to you?" he then asked dryly as he gripped at Roxas's hair and yanked it.

The blonde let out a whimper and looked down at the cold stone floor, "Not Axel..." he weakly said in defeat, "You can do whatever you want to me. Just don't hurt Axel, you bastard," he then said more determinedly than before.

Xemnas smirked as he leant in closer to Roxas, "Hm, it seem we've made a deal. It will be a pleasure making business with you Roxas. I'm very sure of it," he said and quite violently pulled Roxas up from the cold floor, forcing Roxas to stumble after him as he stalked through the cold room towards a metal door. Roxas had no clue where they were, but the place gave him the creeps.

What awaited him was a small cold room with a dim light, a bed stood in the centre. And a few meters away from the bed there was a camera hooked up to a computer.

So that was what Xemnas had meant about Axel watching...

Roxas nervously swallowed and looked at Xemnas who smirked, "What is it, Roxas?" he asked.

"Promise on your own life that you will leave after this..." he anxiously said, "You'll never come back here. You'll never even consider hurting anyone here again," he stated, looking into Xemnas's eyes.

"I promise you that, and even though you might not believe me I'm a man of my word," he said, surprisingly enough sounding serious, "So what do you say? Are you ready for some fun?" he asked with a smirk on his face as Roxas closed his eyes but nodded.

He wouldn't let Xemnas hurt Axel again. Even if this would hurt Axel as well, it wouldn't kill him. And Roxas would let Xemnas to what he wanted, just so he could go back to the one he loved later.

"Fantastic," Xemnas said with a cold laugh, "Then I suggest you take place in bed while I get a hold of Axel and fix this camera..." he said as he picked up the phone as Roxas walked up to the bed, desperately trying to think of a solution.

* * *

"Fuck... fuck... what are we supposed to do?!" Axel asked in desperation as he looked at Demyx who had started to cry. They had been sitting there in silence for about half an hour now. And Axel had no clue what to do.

"I d-don't know..." Demyx stuttered out and wiped his eyes, "H-he can't hurt Roxas, can he?" he asked with wide eyes.

Axel closed his eyes, "You know what he did to Xaldin and Larxene..." he murmured, trying to not dive into the memories of that day.

And then, all of a sudden, his phone started buzzing, soon followed by a song.

Axel twitched, that was his signal for Roxas. It meant Xemnas was calling him again... With shaking hands Axel put the phone against his ear and answered.

"Xemnas..."

"**Axel, nice to speak to you again..."** he said and took a short pause, that felt like and eternity to Axel, **"Actually Roxas and I just made a little deal... I suggest you get home in 10 minutes and accept the video invitation I've sent you, you'd die to see it..." **he said and laughed, and with that the line went silent.

"Damn it..." Axel said as he shoved the phone down into his pocket and started to dig out his car keys out of another pocket. He wasn't in such a good state to drive, but if he wanted to get home in ten minutes he had to drive now. He took a deep breath before starting the engine and looking over at Demyx, "Put on your seatbelt and call Zexion. He's good at computers... tell him to come to my place. We need to track Xemnas down," he ordered and Demyx nodded as he fumbled to get up his phone as Axel started driving.

"Zexion... y-you need to get over to Axel's place now... It's Xemnas..." Demyx said with shaking voice as Axel drove as fast as he could, "He got Roxas. You need to track him, please Zexy...... Thanks, see you soon, love you," he quickly ended the call and just looked straight ahead, he was probably almost as scared as Axel was for the moment.

Once they had parked the car Axel just jumped out, slammed the door shut and run for his apartment, Demyx following him. No one cared to lock the car doors. Zexion was already waiting for them by the door once they got inside. Axel gave a hasty nod as he pulled down the door handle to his apartment and stalked in, not caring to even take his shoes off. Damn it, he didn't have time for this!

"Reno!" he shouted as soon as he got inside, Reno lazily looked up from his place in the couch.

"What's up, bro?" he asked with a raised eyebrow when he noticed Axel's distressed look. The redhead looked paler than usual and Reno could trace a lot of fear and panic in his eyes. And that Demyx and Zexion were standing behind him, looking nervous didn't really give a better impression of the situation.

"Xemnas..." Axel said and trailed off, "Xemnas have kidnapped Roxas! I don't know what you can do, but please help me!" he pleaded.

With that Reno was quick to get up from the couch, looking at Axel with wide eyes, "What the fuck are you saying?!"

"Xemnas have Roxas!" Axel growled before he stormed into his room and sat down in the chair in front of the computer, and there was for sure a little box there, asking if he wanted to join a video conversation. He took a deep sigh and pressed OK before throwing a glance at his friends who stood behind him, "Zexion... if you want to track him then..." he trailed off as Zexion pulled out his laptop and started connecting several cables to Axel's computer.

"I use my own computer, I know it better than yours," he seriously said as he started it up, not letting a second go to waist..

"Reno, do you have any weapons at home?" Axel seriously asked as he watched the computer load. He was "blessed" with a slow computer. He wasn't using it much for internet so he didn't mind, but now it was annoying as hell.

The older redhead nodded, "Of course I've got weapons at home," he stated, sure he wasn't really allowed to have more than one gun at home. But Reno could be a bit paranoid from time to time.

"Then... then could you, as soon as Zexion have tracked Xemnas down, go there and get Roxas?" Axel asked, still not taking his eyes away from the screen, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to leave..." he added.

Reno just nodded, "I'll go and call Rude. If it's Xemnas we're dealing with then it could be necessary..." he muttered before leaving the room.

"It's opened up!" Demyx exclaimed as a window popped up on the screen, "It's... wa-wait... this can't be right..." Demyx said, looking worried. And that was Axel's feeling as well. Why were Roxas sitting on an dirty old bed, looking ashamed? Soon Xemnas stepped into the picture.

"**Ah,** **I see you've joined us, how nice of you,"** he said with a smirk on his face as he walked up to the bed and sat down on the edge, putting a hand on Roxas's shoulder, **"Haven't you missed seeing your boyfriend?"** he asked with tilted head as he let his hand travel up to Roxas's face.

"Don't you touch him you bastard!" Axel bellowed, he didn't have a web cam that connected them, but he did have a microphone.

"**Calm down, Axel,"** Xemnas said with a sigh, as he looked at Roxas who refused to look into the camera, **"Roxas is okay with this. I gave him a choice after all..."**

This made Roxas look over at Xemnas and hiss, "What a choice!" he spat out.

This made Xemnas simply roll his eyes before he looked into the camera again, **"Roxas and I made a deal... which will make me leave town forever. I'll never set a foot here again after this,"** he explained.

"What fucking deal?!" Axel growled.

"**Why don't you tell him about it Roxas? You're the one who agreed after all..."** he said with a smirk on his face, **"Go on."**

Roxas took a deep breath before looking into the camera with a sad look on his face, **"I'm so sorry Axel..."** he said, really sounding as sorry as he looked, **"I..."**

"Roxas..." Axel quietly said, "What is going on there...?"

"**I made a deal with Xemnas that will make him go away forever,"** Roxas said, turning his eyes away from the camera once more, **"I... I'll let Xemnas... I'll..."**

Xemnas sighed and rolled his eyes at Roxas's stuttering, **"He agreed to let me fuck him senseless, Axel, while you watch,"** he coldly said with a smile on his face, **"Doesn't that sound just great? Just that and I'll let you off the hook. The debt will be repaid for a cheap price and I'll never bother you again..."**

"No!" Axel let out with wide eyes, "NO! No, no, no! Don't make him pay for something I should pay for! You can do anything to me, just don't touch Roxas!"

"**I'm sorry, Axel, but that was what Roxas said earlier; "You can do anything to me, just don't hurt Axel...""** he said, **"Wasn't it like that, Roxas?"** he asked smoothly and the blonde actually nodded.

"**Besides, no offence, I think I'll enjoy this way more," **Xemnas said with a chuckle.

Axel threw a look at Zexion who was typing for dear life, "Soon..." he said in a quiet murmur, so Xemnas wouldn't hear it through the microphone. Axel even threw a glance back at Demyx who looked like he was about to pass out or even die. He looked seriously sick.

"Please, Xemnas, _anything_..." Axel pleadingly said.

"**Axel, you know I'm letting you off easy," **Xemnas coldly said, **"Fucking your boyfriend shouldn't be close enough at all to let you go, but I feel nice..."**

"You fucking killed Xaldin!" Axel roared, "What the fuck _is_ enough for you?!"

"**Thanks to you Organization XIII is barely existing... It's only a few of us left. A lot of our members went to jail thanks to you, Axel, and I made very sure to tell you what happened to traitors."**

Axel flinched at hearing that. This was something he hadn't talked much about to anyone at all. Sure he had been a part of Xemnas's gang. And yeah, that gang had been into dangerous and illegal business. Axel had just gotten into it since he had been rebellious. Demyx hadn't approved of Axel being in that gang... but had Axel cared? No. Of course not. And Demyx had never gotten to know the complete truth at what happened in that gang.

"They're not dead at least!" Axel hissed, "They deserved it! For... for..." he trailed off, not able to continue.

"**You were selfish and you know it," **Xemnas said with a smirk on his face, **"And then your friends came to save your traitorous ass... so it was your fault. Everything. And it makes this your fault as well, isn't that so?" **he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"**Shut up!"** Roxas hissed, **"You're a fucking mean asshole and whatever happened you probably deserved it!"**

With that Xemnas harshly slapped Roxas, making the blonde growl, **"Roxas, I've been patient with you so far..." **he warned.

Axel closed his eyes, he couldn't believe he had put Roxas in this situation. Xemnas was right about it. This was Axel's fault. If he hadn't been stupid in the past... if he just hadn't been so eager to do everything in his might to piss Reno off, then nothing of this might have happened. Then Roxas would be home, not in Xemnas's claws.

"Bastard..." Axel weakly let out as he saw Xemnas get closer to Roxas. He threw a look at Zexion who still typed for life, looking strained. It seemed it wasn't the easiest thing to do.

"**Let us get this over with now, or what do you say, Roxas?"** Xemnas purred and turned his back to the camera as he grabbed Roxas's shirt and pulled him closer, **"Make sure to watch this, Axel, it will be... a blast,"** he said with a chuckle as Roxas cringed before he was forced into a kiss. Once he was out of it his head slipped down on Xemnas's shoulder as the older man's hands were travelling in under his shirt.

Roxas was looking straight into the camera and he shook his head as discretely he could and mouthed a word.

_Please_.

Axel closed his eyes, and he cursed himself for it. Roxas didn't want him to look... Xemnas wanted him to look. Axel himself didn't want to watch his boyfriend get raped by Xemnas. But could he stand just sitting there, refusing to look, when he still could hear? When he knew what was happening to Roxas? Axel knew he'd never be able to forgive himself for this.

"**Mnnh... N-no..." **Roxas let out what sounded like a half strangled moan which was followed by the rustling sound of clothes falling to the floor.

Axel couldn't help bringing his hands to his face to keep himself from looking. All he wanted to was to find Xemnas and rip him off from Roxas. And kill the bastard. But he was sitting there, completely helpless. Hearing his boyfriend get raped. He respected that Roxas didn't want him to watch. And it hurt. It hurt so bad that he just wanted to scream.

"**Come on, Roxas... moan for me..."** Xemnas purred.

"Got it!" Zexion said quietly as an address flashed on his screen.

Axel looked up at Zexion who pointed at the screen. Axel pointed at the door and was about to mouth the word Reno when a loud sound was heard followed by a yell of pain, and not much later a sickening crack was heard which was followed by silence.

"Shit!" Axel let out as he turned his face to the screen, looking at it with wide eyes.

Roxas was half undressed and held a lamp in his hand. Xemnas lied over Roxas's lap, looking very unconscious. Preferably dead... with a knife in his back.

"Roxas!" Axel let out with wide eyes before he looked at Zexion, "Go tell Reno. Now!" he told him and the blue haired teen was fast up from his chair, then Axel turned back and watched as Roxas pushed Xemnas's body off of him and quickly got his shirt back on and pulled his belt on again. The blonde teen seemed to be surprisingly collected.

"**Axel... I've no clue where I am and-,"**

"We've tracked the computer, Roxas, we're coming to get you," Axel quickly said.

"**A-Axel... I stabbed him..." **Roxas then said with wide eyes as he looked over at Xemnas, **"What if I killed him?"** he asked, sounding scared out of his mind.

"Nothing will happen if you did. The tape in the camera is proof that it was self-defence," Axel stated as he looked at the blonde, "You... check if he's alive. If he is you better tie his arms and legs in case of. I know Xemnas can be a tough bastard..." he said and trailed off, the blonde nodded as he headed up to the body.

"**He's alive..."**

Then Demyx started to cry loudly, probably in relief, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO DIE!"

"Demyx, please calm down a little bit?" Axel asked and the other teen nodded with a trembling lip. Then Reno stormed in with Zexion.

"You've got him tracked?!" he asked and Axel nodded, pointing at the address. He had no clue where the place was supposed to be, "The hell... It's one of Shinra's old warehouses!" Reno let out, "Let's get going!"

"**Axel..." **Roxas said, looking into the camera, **"I love you..."**

Axel closed his eyes and swallowed, "I love you too, baby. Just stay where you are. We're going to get you now. And... I'd take that knife out of his back. You might need to stab something again..." he explained and Roxas nodded, "I see you soon. I promise."

Roxas nodded, **"Just hurry..."**

"I will," Axel said and with that he stood up and followed Reno out, both Demyx and Zexion followed them to the car, "Guys, you don't have to-,"

Demyx cried out and then slapped Axel, to everyone's surprise, "What the hell do you think of us?! Of course we're coming with you! You might be Roxas's boyfriend, but we're his friends, and **your** friends! We're going with you two, that's final!" he said and with a pissed off face expression he got into the back of the car along with Zexion who just gave Axel a light shrug before closing the door.

Axel looked over at Reno, "I don't think I can drive for the moment..." he stated and Reno nodded.

"I wasn't planning on letting you drive either way, bro," Reno said with a wry smile on his face, "You might drive too fast but I drive faster!" he then stated as he got into the driver's seat and Axel hurried over to the other side of the car.

"Now get your safety belts on, kids!" Reno said, "I'm gonna hurry, and you haven't seen me hurry while driving!" he said as he started up the car and backed out on the road.

"B-but you always drive fast!" Demyx squeaked.

Reno turned to look at Demyx with a smirk on his face, "Yeah... and I do that when I _don't_ hurry," he said before turning forward again, backing the car out on the road and then slamming his foot down on the gas pedal, soon speeding away on the road.

* * *

Roxas shuddered as he looked around himself in the room and then let his eyes travel back to Xemnas. He was freaking scared right now. Of course he hadn't planned on letting Xemnas rape him. And he was really lucky that he had started to keep that pocketknife with him for safety... When Xemnas had been setting up the camera Roxas had made sure that the knife was ready. All he had to do was to wait for the right moment.

And well, Roxas had stabbed Xemnas in his back. But he had quickly noticed that wasn't enough, so that was why he had grabbed the thing closest to him, which had happened to be the lamp. And thus Roxas had slammed it into Xemnas's head and that had at least been enough to make the bigger and older man pass out.

With a look of distaste on his face he grabbed the handle of the knife and then pulled it out with a gushing sound which almost made him throw up. He shuddered as he dried the blood off with the sheets of the already dirty bed. Who would mind some blood on it? The place was probably abandoned... and he had heard Reno say something about it being an old Shinra warehouse...

With a sigh Roxas looked at Xemnas once more and grimaced at the blood seeping out from the wound in his back. And stupidly enough Roxas couldn't help ripping the sheets to long pieces to wrap it around Xemnas. He hated Xemnas with a passion, but he... he couldn't let him die without doing anything. He didn't want to be a murderer...

"You're such a girl, Roxas..." Roxas murmured for himself and smiled sadly as he thought about Axel who probably would scold him for tending to Xemnas's wound. But well... Roxas was just being himself. And he'd rather see Xemnas suffer in jail a life time than just dying there.

"The camera..." he then said with tilted head as he walked up to it, it was connected to a computer. He sighed as he looked into it once more, "This is fucked up... and I just want to say that if I die in here for some strange reason. I love you, Cloud. But I'll let Axel get most of my personal stuff... I hope you understand..." he trailed off and then let out a weak chuckle, "Man... since when did this become my will?" he asked himself, "Screw this, bye bye..." he said and with that he turned of the camera and got the memory card out of it. He was in need of it if he wanted to put Xemnas in jail.

Well... what now? He sighed once more as he paced back and forth in the room. Not sure about what was best to do... Oh wait!

The blonde hurried over to Xemnas discarded coat and went through the pockets, soon he held his cellphone in hand. He smiled as soon as he looked at it. He felt a bit more safe with his phone... He shoved it down his pocket. Knowing that Axel was on his way. He didn't want to call and disturb in the redhead's driving.

"...Damn it, I can't stand this room!" Roxas let out in exasperation before he stalked towards the door. He was mostly disturbed by Xemnas body on the floor. He was fearing that he all of a sudden would spring back to consciousness and scream: SURPRISE!

He knew very well that it was impossible since Xemnas hands now where tied behind his back, and Roxas had hit hard when he had smashed the lamp into Xemnas's head, "Sorry, Axel, just not this room..." he said as he pushed the heavy metal door open and entered the room he had awakened in.

Roxas frowned as he looked around. This room was a lot brighter and bigger. There was three different doors so Roxas had no idea which on to take from there. He knew that it probably was for the greater good to just stay where he was. It had probably been better to stay with the knocked out Xemnas for all that he knew... What would happen if Saïx would come stalking inside? Then he'd be screwed. Roxas had a knife... and Saïx had a gun.

The blonde shuddered as he went up to the armchair Xemnas had been sitting in. A folder was lying there so he picked it up and sat down. With a sigh he opened it up and... damn.

Roxas stared at the content with wide eyes. There was pictures in it. Pictures of him. A lot of them... he started to flip through them. It must have been from the last two or three weeks at least! No wonder Roxas had felt stalked, he must have been constantly followed by someone. And it couldn't have just been Saïx...

"This is fucked up..." he said under his breath, "How... the fuck?!" he had just found a picture which was taken through his window. Now Roxas was really freaked out, how could he _not _have noticed a thing like that?!

"Fucked up you say?" an amused voice said from behind which made Roxas fall out of the armchair, which made it his second time falling out of a chair this day, "Acting like that it's not weird they got those photos..." he said with a laugh which made Roxas crawl back, the man had a gun in his hand.

"Who are you?" Roxas asked with wide eyes.

The man sighed and scratched his head, "Depends on..." he said and walked up to Roxas, grabbing his arm, "Come with me, twerp!" he then said and Roxas stumbled after him.

* * *

"Damn it!" Axel hissed, "Drive faster! We need to get there! He might have knocked out Xemnas but how big chance is there that Xemnas was alone? Saïx is probably with him!" he whined with a look on Reno who was looking frustrated.

Said older redhead growled, "Axel, I'm driving as fast as I freaking can! It's not like I'm trying to go slow!"

"Well when are we there?!" Axel then snappily asked with crossed arms.

"Just shut up and wait!" Reno yelled as he looked at Axel for a short while, "It wouldn't matter what I say to you! Time wont move faster and it's... it's there!" he then exclaimed as a big warehouse made itself seen in the distance, "Now, guys, listen... I've got three guns and I think-,"

"You, I and Axel handle that," Zexion said with a glance at Demyx who was pale and shaking, "Demyx can stay behind me," he then added.

At this Axel turned around to look at his two friends. Whoa... Demyx really looked scared out of his mind even though Zexion was holding an arm around him to keep him safe.

"Dem, are you okay?" Axel asked softly, "You know, we will get Roxas out in one piece. I'll make sure of that if it so is the last thing I do..." he said and smiled weakly as Demyx nodded and took a shaky breath.

"I'm fine..." he said.

With that Reno slowed down and parked the car outside the building and then he jumped out and went back to open the trunk of the car. There he opened up a bag containing three guns. Of course he wasn't supposed to walk around with guns at home or in the car... But why would he care? It was at this occasions they came in handy.

Soon the three teens stood behind him, he turned around and handed Axel and Zexion one gun each, "Be careful, they're loaded," he seriously said before they grabbed the guns.

"Wouldn't expect less from you, paranoid bastard..." Axel said and tried to smile nervously.

Reno returned the smile but with more confidence, "Come on, Ax, let's get your boyfriend back now. I don't think Roxas wants to be in there longer than necessary, and Cloud did want him back latest 5pm, right?" he asked with a slight smile and Axel nodded.

"Then let's go, yo," he said with a nod and grabbed his own gun before closing the trunk of the car and walking up to the door of the warehouse.

The door was rusty and had been broken up since earlier... Shinra hadn't used the building for at least 10 years, Reno knew that much about it. It had been used to store chemicals underground. The part they first entered was just the surface, and if Reno would give a guess Roxas was somewhere on the lower floor. In the basement.

"I think we should go down a floor," he stated and pointed at an old spiral staircase which lead down, "It's bigger down there though so we better stay together and keep or eyes open," Reno stated as he headed for the stairs.

Axel frowned, "How come you know so much? I didn't think you had been in here..." he asked and looked at the back of his brother.

Reno sighed and shrugged, "When I called Rude he told me a little bit about this warehouse. He have been in here... he would have come with us but he's in Midgar, doing some business for Rufus. Something about a gang of silver haired teenagers causing trouble..." he said with a sigh, "I was supposed to help but Tseng is covering for me," he added at the end and then started to walk down, the three teens following him in silence.

Once they got down Reno let out a slight groan, "Great... three doors. Which one to take?" he asked as he threw a glance at Axel.

Axel rolled his eyes and pointed at a door which was open already, "That one. It looks like someone have broken the lock," he stated as he walked up to it and checked, "Yup... definitely..." he said and looked at the others.

Reno blinked and looked at the door as he walked up to it, "Yeah... you're right..." he said and peeked inside, "Let's just head inside and check-,"

"Trespassers," a voice suddenly said, making all of them jump and turn around to face a man holding a gun, "Hm... how did you find out where to find us?" he asked with a neutral face expression.

Axel growled, "Why would we tell you that, Saïx?!" he spat out as he pointed his own gun at Saïx, "And where the hell is Roxas?"

Saïx tilted his head, "So you're armed as well..." he said and trailed off, stepping backwards, "Well isn't this unfortunate... I think you should put down your weapons or Xemnas might break the deal he made with Roxas..."

Axel rolled his eyes, "Your Xemnas have been knocked out!" he hissed, "Saw it at home, it happened about an half hour ago Saïx... I thought you had better contact with Xemnas than that," he said with a smirk on his face, looking at Saïx who suddenly looked surprised.

"What?"

"Put down the freaking gun, Saïx," Reno growled, "Don't expect to be able to handle three armed persons on your own!"

Saïx then let a smirk slip up on his face again, "Who says I'm alone?" he asked and soon he was grinning evilly, making Axel involuntary shiver. Both Saïx and Xemnas were some of the few persons who actually scared him. They scared him a lot.

All of a sudden a door behind Saïx was flung open and out stepped a tall man with his hair in a ponytail out and looked at everyone in confusion, he had Roxas standing behind him.

"What's the commotion?" he let out in surprise as he looked all over the room, registering all the people in there, "Oh man..." he said with a sigh and scratched his head.

"Roxas!" Axel exclaimed with wide eyes as he saw the blonde who looked very confused and a bit scared.

The man standing in front of Roxas gaped, "Axel?!" he let out in surprise which in turn made Saïx turn in surprise.

"Xigbar?!" he let out, sounding quite out of character.

"Axel!" Roxas said when he noticed it was the redhead who had said his name.

"XIGBAR?!" Axel now let out as he looked at the man with the scarred face and an eye patch over his left eye.

Then Saïx smirked, "Oh right, Xemnas called for you, didn't he? I told you I wasn't alone? You wont stand a chance against us, especially when we've got Roxas and-,"

"Shut the fuck up, dude..." Xigbar said and sighed as looked at Saïx with a lazy look on his face, "If I get to chose to help you or Axel who do ya think I chose?" he asked and grinned.

Saïx frowned and looked at the tall man who now was pointing his gun at Saïx as well.

"The hell..." Axel said in surprise and looked at Xigbar.

Xigbar chuckled as he looked at Axel, "Man, it was ages ago, kid... Always liked you. You got some bite in ya, and that goes for little dude here as well..." he said threw his head back a bit, meaning he was talking about Roxas.

"Traitor!" Saïx hissed, "You fucking traitor!"

Xigbar shrugged and then sighed, "Nah... I just think it's each man for his own, I help out if I want to. And no offence but you and Xemnas are asses," he said with a grin on his face, "Why should I help an asshole like you, Saïx?" he asked.

"Because we paid you!" he hissed, forgetting about the others who now watched in interest.

Xigbar rolled his eyes, "That was before I knew this was Axel's love material, wouldn't want to pick a hair from his head or Axel might kill me," he jokingly said before turning serious, "And I was good friends with Xaldin, you know that," he then added, once more keeping his gun directed at Saïx, "Let go of your gun, you know I can shot your hand off with my eye closed," he said with a smirk on his lips again.

Axel couldn't help grinning when a look of defeat fell on Saïx face. Everyone who knew Xigbar knew that it was stupid to start a gun fight with him. There was a reason that Xigbar also was known as the Freeshooter. He had skills beyond imagination. And well, the blue haired man did drop his gun and kicked it away without a word, making Xigbar grin in victory before turning to Axel.

"Now ya owe me one, Ax," he said and the grabbed Roxas's shoulder and gave him a push so he stumbled forward and Axel was fast to run up and pull him into a tight hug.

"Roxas!" he let out in relief, not letting go of the blonde, "Sh-shit... you're okay... you're okay!" he said, letting it in. He had Roxas again!

"Yeah, I'm okay..." Roxas said in relief as well, resting his head against Axel's shoulder, "Thank God you're here..." he then added.

"Thank goodness..." Demyx weakly let out... and then he fainted, falling to the floor.

"Demyx!" Zexion let out and knelt down by his passed out boyfriend, "...you idiot," he softly said.

Xigbar sighed and rolled his eyes, "That's enough sappiness for me..." he said and then looked at Reno, "Sorry, man, but I'll take my leave now, wouldn't look good if the cops found me here..." he said with a grin on his face.

Reno gave a nod, "Thanks. You just go, we wont mention you..." he said and Xigbar just grinned as he stalked past Saïx and then ruffled Roxas's hair and chuckled.

"You got some spunk, kid, gotta give it to ya..." he said and grinned, "Never thought I'd see the day a kid beat Xemnas up, I'll live on this forever!" and with that he headed up the stairs, leaving the teenagers, Reno and Saïx alone in the basement.

"Drive them all home, Axel, and bring the guns. You know the lose floor tile in my room? Hide them there in case of the cops coming by later..." he said, he hadn't stopped looking at Saïx for the entire time.

Axel gave a nod, "You'll be fine?" he asked and Reno nodded and winked.

"Of course, bro, this punk isn't getting away any time soon! Just call Shinra for me and I'll be happy, yo," he said and grinned before he looked more serious again, "Get going, Cloud is probably worried sick by now," he then added.

Roxas let out a moan, "Oh no, he's going to kill me!" Roxas whined as he clutched to Axel's shirt.

Axel smiled weakly as he looked at Zexion, who despite his build was pretty strong and had managed to steady Demyx up, "Ready to go?" he asked and Zexion nodded with a grimace on his face.

"Just get going," he said and with that Axel started moving, an arm wrapped around Roxas as they headed up to the car.

Roxas couldn't believe he had been so lucky. If he hadn't had that knife he would still be in that bed... and he... he would probably be "fucked senseless" as Xemnas had put it.

"Roxas, front or back?" Axel asked softly as they reached the car.

The blonde and blinked as he looked up at Axel, "Front," he replied with a small smile which Axel returned as he opened the passenger's seat and despite Roxas's protests he even put on his seatbelt and took his time to kiss him while doing it.

"Zexy, Demyx okay?" Axel asked as soon as he was into the car again, looking back at Zexion who sat there, with Demyx head in his lap.

He shrugged, "Yeah, just temporarily out..." he said and sighed.

Roxas sighed and closed his eyes, "Drive slow, please," he quietly said as Axel started the car.

The redhead nodded, "Of course. I'll take it slow," he softly replied, looking over at Roxas who smiled back at him.

"What happened?" he then asked after a while of driving, "How did Xemnas get you?"

Roxas sighed, "I was walking in the underground system and Saïx showed up..." he said, "He put a wet cloth in my face and next thing I remember is waking up on a cold floor. And that's when I met Xemnas..."

"Is it true that you made that deal with him?" Axel solemnly asked, glancing over at Roxas.

The blonde nodded and looked over at Axel, "Yeah... I did," he said and let out a weak laugh, "You know, the choices were between: 1) Letting him fuck me senseless, 2) Not letting him and thus making you come so he could kill you, then fuck me senseless and kill me as well... or 3)... there was no three," Roxas said with a frown on his face, "And I didn't want him to get to you... I didn't plan on letting him do it to me either way..."

Axel sighed and shook his head, "What a fucking nightmare..." he said, "Good you had that knife with you... wait, why did you have a knife?!"

"I've felt stalked for a while so I... I started carrying it with me..." he murmured.

Axel glanced at Roxas and then sighed once more, "Well... good, I guess..." he said. And then they drove the rest of the way in silence. Everyone finally being able to relax. This was it, Xemnas would never bother them again...

* * *

Axel turned the engine off and looked at Roxas who looked anxious.

"Roxas... do you want me to go with you?" he asked softly and the blonde nodded. They had already driven Zexion and Demyx to Zexion's house.

"Yeah... I'm not sure I can explain this all by myself," he said and let out a nervous chuckle, "I'm a bit shocked... I think..." he said and sighed.

Axel nodded and smiled slightly before getting out of the car, waiting for Roxas to get out as well, once out of the car Axel took Roxas's hand in his and laced their fingers together.

"Don't worry. I'm in this with you," he murmured as they walked up to the door, and knocked before just stepping inside and taking of their shoes.

Only seconds later they heard the sound of running from upstairs and next they saw Cloud practically falling down the stair, gripping the handrail to not fall at the end of it. His eyes were wide with worry and he immediately looked relieved when he saw Roxas.

"Roxas... Oh my fucking God, Roxas!" he said and stalked up to them and pulled Roxas into a bone crushing hug, "What happened? Where have you been?! I got so worried when Axel called and you... shit, I thought you was hurt, kidnapped or-,"

Axel cleared his throat, "Kidnapped is a close call..." he said with a small smile, making Cloud's eyes widen as he looked over at Roxas.

"Let's take this sitting down, please?" Roxas suggested and Cloud nodded as the three of them walked into the living room.

There Roxas took his time to explain to Cloud what had happened. Axel had to jump in at some parts since he knew a lot more about Xemnas than Roxas did. And let's just say that the story was very complicated. And Cloud was not happy with the way they had handled it. Especially with Roxas not telling him about what kind of person Xemnas was... Needless to say Cloud was upset. But very happy that he had gotten Roxas home safe and sound.

"I guess you'd feel more up to resting than a movie night after all that," Cloud said after a while, still trying to take in everything that had happened, "Just... shit..."

"Actually I think it would be nice to watch some movies either way," Roxas said with innocent eyes, "Please?" he asked and Cloud smiled weakly and nodded, "Yay," Roxas let out, making the older brother let out a chuckle.

Cloud turned to Axel, "Would you want to stay or...?" he asked but Axel stood up and shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer but I need to get home and make sure Reno has something to eat when he get back home," he jokingly said before he leant down to Roxas and softly kissed him, "I'll show myself to the door, see you Roxas," he then said with a smile on his face which Roxas returned.

"I'll follow you," Cloud said and walked after Axel, he even walked out with him.

"I want to thank you," Cloud said once they were outside, looking at Axel who looked kind of surprised, "Thanks for bringing him back in one piece... Roxas does really need you. I guess I'm not enough at all times," he said and smiled weakly, "And I've judged you..."

Axel gaped and then shook his head, "Oh no! Don't thank me! It's my fault he got into that mess in the first place, if I hadn't had that debt to Xemnas he wouldn't have targeted Roxas and-,"

"You couldn't really prevent that," Cloud said with a shrug.

"Well... Roxas need you as well! You're important to him, you're his only family after all and... he might not say it straight out but I know he loves you... between brothers that's kind of..." he trailed off and sighed, scratching his head, "Reno and I are just like that as well. Just keep doing what you're doing..." he said, glancing down.

Cloud sighed, "Thanks, I mean it, Axel. I'm sorry that I might have acted like an ass before. You're always welcome here to see Roxas, just so you know," he said with a smile on his face, "And... give Reno my best. I might come by some day to thank him personally though..."

Axel laughed as he headed for his car, "Yeah, I'm sure he'd appreciate it, bye, see ya!" he then called as he got into the car and watched Cloud get into the house again.

Axel smiled lightly as he started the engine. Looked like things finally were looking brighter. And with a smile on his face he speeded away on the road.

Finally... finally they were free from Xemnas.

* * *

**A/N:** YAY. lookie. YOU DON'T HAVE TO KILL ME. HA HA HA! ...HA!  
I didn't even let Xemnas rape Roxas, I thought that would be a little bit _too_ cliché. And I think it's awesome that Roxas actually can stand up for himself. WHOO! STAB MORE PEOPLE! ...Or not.  
Buuut the story is not over yet. Even though it kinds sounds like it. Don't you want to know a bit more about Axel's past? Don't you want to know a bit more of their school lives? Don't you want to... uh... yeah. You get the point. This will have some more chapters. Uh-huh.

Thanks for all reviews at last chapter! It was awesome! Roxas, Axel and I all hope you keep doing that, it's always good to know what you all think!

**Xemnas: **-twitch- _Re-re-review..._

-pokes Xemnas-


	19. Chapter 19

**Someone Else's Shadow****  
**

**AN:**  
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPDAAAAAAAAAAAATE! OMFG! LOOK! I UPDATED! I'M NOT DEAD! 8D  
I'm very sorry for the delay on this chapter but I have had a lot to do in school and now when I finally am free from it for a while I've taken my time to relax~ I like relaxing... and I've learned that I can't force my writing out. So I like to wait until I've got inspiration :3  
For this chapter I thought it was time to bring them back in the school environment, it's time to let go of the drama for a while and have some fun. If you oversee the fact that there still is an angry Riku in school...

Well either way it's time for more fun now!

And I must correct a thing in the earlier chapters... Leon is the history teacher. Not english. Because I introduce the english teacher in this chapter XD  
So. Leon = History. NOT ENGLISH.

**Thanks to: Fallen Wind Rider**, **Melodious Authoress**, **keiyoku**, **lovetheHams**, **Before-I-Fall**, **Ren13013**, **Suna's Assassin**, **AkuRokuTurkTrainee**, **FatFreeBacon**, **Sky Blue Baby**, **Ally Montgomery**, **The Infamous Me**, **Mord Sith Matt**, **What About Today**, **DorkFace**, **Kitty-Cat-Kauri**, **pairalwaysn4ever**, **LawlietxRinoa**, **Trainra**, **KooriTheSneak**, **Jayrin Paige**, **Pinuiini**, Uchiha_Luvr/Luv, **Lifeless Heartless** & **Angeal's Puppy**. Thanks to you all for reviewing on the last chapter! 8D

**Warnings: **Language, violence, lemon and Reno's hands.

**Disclaimer:  
Xigbar: **Dude, you think she own us? You little dudes are funny ya know! Ha!  
**Me:** No, I do not own you guys or Kingdom Hearts =w=

* * *

**Chapter 19**

"Roxas!" a loud yell was heard and Roxas's eyes widened as he turned around, seeing the other blonde run at him in high speed. But usually Roxas would have been tackled, this time he parried, making Demyx run straight past him into a wall with a loud smash...

The shorter blonde let out a sigh of relief as he for the first time ever had managed to avoid the Demyx glomp of doom... Then he heard laughing from his other side and looked over to see the rest of his friends stand there, looking highly amused.

"Demyx was totally owned!" Zack said with a wide grin on his face, pointing at Demyx who was stumbling backwards with a hand over his forehead, letting out a slightly whimpering sound.

"Woot! Roxas have learned to parry Demyx's lethal attacks!" Larxene said with a wide grin on her face as she crossed her arms. Yes, the blonde bitch had been released from the hospital (with wild protests from the doctors and nurses) in lack of things to do. She was of course not completely recovered since her muscles were in poor shape after being in that coma.

Roxas smiled lightly at his friends, it was nice being back in school after all things that had happened. He was finally getting back into his old routines now, not having to fear being kidnapped and raped by Xemnas any longer. Actually it had passed about a month, and winter was on its way, only the snow was missing... which was too bad since Roxas actually liked the snow a lot.

Of course he had been a slight bit withdrawn at first, he had only talked to Axel his usual way. He had been acting a bit shy around the others for some days, almost like the time he just had gotten to now them. Probably because he had felt a bit embarrassed about being such an easy victim and causing trouble for everyone, making them worry. But he had gotten over it quiet fast thanks to Axel, Demyx and Larxene. And to the others stubbornness when it got to them making him open up more about how he felt.

"Of course, I don't want to lose any more brain cells," Roxas said and grinned at Demyx who pouted, "Aw, I like you, Dem, you know that," he then said with a chuckle and opened up his arms which made Demyx let out a squeal before hugging him the normal (and much more appreciated) way. Which of course was the way Roxas appreciated to be hugged. He didn't really see what kind of affection there was in those violent tackles also referred to as glomps.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" the slightly whiny and annoyed voice of Axel was heard as he walked up with open arms, "He's mine to hug so lemme get him!" he said with a pout on his face.

Both Roxas and Demyx chuckled but the musician did let go of Roxas which allowed Axel to hug him tightly and then softly kiss him, earning them a few catcalls. They had just recently started to actually kiss in the corridors since Roxas had been a bit sensitive to PDA for a while, thanks to stuff like Seifer, and Xemnas. But he was loosing up, to Axel's relief. Damn that redhead and his possessive nature...

"Hi, baby," Axel cooed, rubbing his nose against Roxas's nose, "What class do you have now?" he asked, hoping they would have the same, which they didn't have very often.

Roxas sighed as he scrunched his nose up a bit at the theft of personal space, "I'm supposed to have art, which you should know since you're also taking art, Axel," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Axel just grinned, "Woho! I get to have you for art!" he cheered, making Roxas groan in aggravation. Axel could for sure be a handful from time to time but he loved him none the less...

"Well let's get going then, right Nami?" Roxas turned to the petite girl who smiled lightly and nodded as she walked up to Roxas and Axel, "Uh... see all of you at lunch!"

* * *

"You know... Cloud told me to say that you and Reno are invited to dinner..." Roxas said and trailed off as he glanced at the redhead who lifted his gaze from his current drawing to look at the blonde in slight surprise. Well, he hadn't expected that...

"What?" he stupidly let out, blinking in confusion.

Roxas sighed and shrugged as he picked up another pencil before looking at Axel again, "I guess it's some kind of thanks for saving me from that Xemnas crap," he simply stated and rolled his eyes, "I'm surprised though... I never thought Cloud would even think of inviting your brother over. Not after that groping incident from when he went to school," he said with a smirk on his face, looking at Axel.

The redhead chuckled and shook his head in disbelief, "You know... I'm not sure if I should be laughing or crying, can you imagine the tension?" Axel asked with a grin on his face, thinking on the four of them around a table in complete silence.

Roxas rolled his eyes but nodded, "It will be interesting... I say we secure an emergency escape path if they decide to try and kill each other. At least I don't want to jump in between them if they get into a fight..." he said with a grimace on his face.

"Same here, your brother could probably kill Reno with his bare hands..." Axel said as he once more directed his eyes back to his drawing, "Should I tell Reno to bring one of his guns?" he asked with a wink, making Roxas chuckle.

"You better do that!"

"Boys, less talk, more drawing," an amused voice from behind suddenly said, making both the blonde and the redhead sigh.

"Yeah, sure Tifa..." Roxas said and jumped a bit as he felt Axel's leg slid up Roxas' own leg, the blonde glared at the redhead who just winked and then decided to stop being such a tease. Only God knew if Roxas could have the same tendencies as Cloud... in that case Axel wouldn't want to piss off the younger blonde.

Axel shuddered. No way... he liked his private parts very much. But a thought of relief was that Roxas probably would miss them... He let out a chuckle and shook his head as the blonde threw a questioning look at the redhead.

"Nothing, Roxas, nothing..." he said with a sigh, "Just looking forward to the family dinner of doom..." he then added under his breath, only allowing Roxas to hear that.

Oh yes indeed.

* * *

Sora nervously sighed. Lately he had been awfully twitchy at the times he had his English class... it didn't really feel nice to have that class with Riku when they were at such bad terms. And it was upsetting that his best friend had turned to such an asshole...

"Well, class..." the teacher, Luxord, said with a bored voice as he sat by his desk, flipping through a magazine of some sorts, "It's time for another project-,"

The blonde Englishman had no time to keep talking before most people in the classroom let out groans and complaints about that. Damn it, Luxord was just too lazy to actually bother to actually stand up and try to teach them something new. It had always been this way!

"But it must be the 10th project for this year, Luxord!" Tidus loudly complained and crossed his arms, "I can't stand another project, I'll DIE!"

The teacher, Luxord, just shrugged and smirked behind the magazine, "That would do us all a favour..." he murmured under his breath. Clearly implying that Tidus was an annoying brat. But then again... he thought most kids were annoying brats. He did already look forward to his weekend. Filled with rum and gambling. Oh yeah...

"What?!" Tidus cried out when he finally realized what Luxord had implied.

Luxord ignored the way Tidus went red in irritation, and then put down his magazine and sighed, "This time it's a group project that you'll work on in pairs. Just chose some historic happening and... do something about it. It can be a speech... a movie... just anything, I don't bloody care about what you do," he stated with a shrug, "And I forgot... I've already divided you into groups," he said with a smug face expression.

"No! You can't do that!" Kairi cried out in frustration.

"You're on my territory, I can do whatever I want to do in this room," Luxord said with an evil grin on his face as the students once more groaned at the torture their teacher liked to put them through.

"Well then, lets get you divided into groups then? First group..."

And by that time Sora decided to go into his little dream world since he wasn't really interested in what was happening... He didn't really mind all those projects Luxord made them do. That meant that he didn't have to write long essays. He had never liked theory very much so he'd much rather make a movie... build something or... just not an essay.

But then again, if it was a group project, then it did matter who he did it with.

"Sora and Riku."

Sora snapped out of his small dream world at the mention of his name... His eyes widened as he tried to register what Luxord had said after that... no, he couldn't have said that... could he?

"Uh... what?" Sora asked with wide eyes, looking at Luxord, just praying he had heard the wrong name.

"I said that you are paired up with Riku. So you'll be working on that project together," he said with a shrug, "Go ahead and sit down with him so you can get an idea, actually all of you do that, you've got this lesson to figure something out!"

Sora went slightly pale as he glanced over at the silver haired teen who was glancing back with slightly wide eyes. Apparently both of them were quite shocked about the fact that they would have to work as partners. A few months ago there wouldn't have been any problems... but now? Oh hell. Torture! That was all Sora could imagine. Torture, tension and fighting.

Sora was panicking inwardly but he swallowed as he stood up and walked over to the empty seat next to Riku.

"U-uh... h-hi, Riku," he murmured, looking down at the desk surface, afraid to meet the other's eyes.

"...hi," Riku quietly replied.

Then there was some awkward silence between them. Oh joy... Sora wasn't sure if he was supposed to be relieved or not over the fact that Riku seemed to be as nervous as him. Great. How awkward was this on a scale from 1 to 10?

3492. In Sora's mind at least.

"So-,"

"What-,"

Both teens cut themselves off as they heard the other speak. Sora blushed slightly as he looked at Riku who glanced down before actually looking into Sora's eyes.

"Sora..." he said, looking and sounding quite uncomfortable with the situation, "Let's... let's just try to get this over with, okay?" he then suggested.

"Yeah. Definitely," Sora quickly agreed, quickly nodding, "Sounds more than fine in my ears! Let's just get it over with. Hell yeah. As fast as possible, now or-,"

"Sora..." Riku said, hiding a small smile behind his hand.

Sora blinked and looked at the other, "Yeah?"

"Just shut up and breath before you suffocate, will you?" he then softly asked, not sounding insulting at all.

The brunette couldn't help smiling and nodded as he looked at Riku. Just like the good old times when Riku still was the nice person he used to be. Maybe his Riku was somewhere deep down there...

"I'm breathing," Sora said and couldn't help a grin to slip up on his face.

Riku just shook his head, still hiding that small smile behind his hand.

If just one of them could admit that they had missed the other... then it would just be a perfect reunion...

* * *

A few hours later, after school... two redheads were sitting in the car, having quite an argumentation.

"Reno, seriously... try to freaking behave! You're the oldest one of us, you should be able to behave to a certain extent..." Axel stated as he glared at his older brother as they took a right turn with the car, only a few minutes away from Cloud and Roxas' house.

The older redhead rolled his eyes as he glanced over at Axel, "What? You don't think I actually can behave? I'm deeply wounded, Ax, I thought family was something important!" he dramatically said, putting on his best insulted face expression.

Axel just groaned and shook his head, "I'm just saying no groping or molesting. And definitely not any inappropriate comments, I'm not going to jump in and try to save you if Cloud decides to try and rip your head of, and that's considering the head on your shoulders and the one between your legs," he muttered with crossed arms.

"Aw but Axeeel~," Reno whined and pouted, "You couldn't do that to me!"

"I wouldn't want to stand between you and Cloud if blondie was pissed off," Axel honestly said as Reno slowed down the car, finally parking outside the Strifes' house. Axel sighed as Reno turned the engine off, "Now Reno... promise me you wont be an ass!"

"Yeah, yeah... whatever you say, Axel," Reno said with a sigh as he got out of the car, not caring to lock it.

Well... that didn't really assure Axel of anything. He still had a pretty damn strong feeling that Reno actually would do at least one bad thing. God knew that Reno was impossible to control... and Reno couldn't really control himself at all...

Axel silently just prayed they wouldn't have to witness a murder as he and Reno walked up to the door and knocked. Why hadn't he just called and said that Reno was working late? That would have spared them from this... at least he could have prepared better for it if he had known a few days before.

"Huh... I've never been in here actually," Reno stated as they waited for someone to open the door.

"I'm _so_ surprised," Axel said under his breath and rolled his eyes, and before Reno had time to reply the door was opened up and they were met by a quite distressed Roxas who nervously smiled, "Hi baby!" Axel's mood suddenly took a change for happiness as he quickly placed a kiss on Roxas' cheek.

"Uh, hi, welcome and..." he glanced back, looking a little bit worried, "I think it's safe to come in... he had some problems in the kitchen so I was afraid we'd have to hide out..." he said with a chuckle and stepped aside so Reno and Axel could get inside.

"Heh, well be happy I'm not the one who was inviting you guys!" Reno happily said as he got his shoes off and gave Roxas an one armed hug.

Axel smirked, "You'd make me cook..."

"Of course. I can't even cook!" Reno happily admitted as he let go of Roxas who instead was getting pulled into a hug by Axel.

"Then you're lucky that Axel still takes care of you," a voice cut in and all three of them turned around to see Cloud lean against a wall with his hands on his hips and a small smirk on his face.

Reno just grinned as he reached out and ruffled Axel's hair which was met by loud noises of dislike, "Yeah, what would I do without my little wittle baby brother?" he cooed and pulled Axel into a hug, forcefully kissing his cheek which made Axel scream in protest as he shoved Reno away.

"D-damn it!" he stuttered out, madly wiping at his cheek, trying to get away whatever germs Reno might have, "I told you to freaking behave!" he cried out and took cover behind Roxas and then glanced over at Cloud, "Sure you want him in here? I can drive him home, I wouldn't mind a single bit!"

Reno looked highly offended and placed a hand over his heart, as if Axel had said something horrible, "Axel!"

Cloud just snorted and then actually let a smile slip up on his lips, "Well, I'll make sure to let you know if we reach that stage..."

"That does with other words mean that you'll drive Reno home if Cloud starts twitching, that's when he decides to try and kill him," Roxas whispered only so Axel could hear, making the younger redhead grin and nod.

"Well then why the heck are we standing here?" Cloud finally asked with a raised eyebrow, "You guys should just get at home in the living room, dinner's ready soon so just... do something," he stated with a sigh and headed back to the kitchen.

"Oh~! I'm coming with you!" Reno exclaimed and pretty much skipped after Cloud, "Maybe I can learn something!"

Both Roxas and Axel shared a slightly worried glance at each other before they started laughing and headed into the living room, sitting down in the couch. Correction: Axel pulling Roxas down so he lied on top of him in the couch.

"Axel!" Roxas whined as he put his hands against Axel's chest and looked down at the redhead with a frown on his face, "Our brothers are in the next freaking room!" he hissed under his breath, not liking the thought of the older ones walking in on such a scene, even though it wasn't anything explicit.

The redhead just grinned as he let go of Roxas who pushed himself up in sitting position with a slight frown on his face, "Aw come on, Roxie, I wasn't gonna molest you!" he said with a wink and well... Roxas couldn't pretend to be angry.

A chuckle escaped the blonde's lips as he shook his head, "How can I be so sure about that?" he asked with a wink of his own, "I know that you've got so much problems keeping your hands to yourself..."

Axel winked at Roxas, "Can you blame me?" he asked but winced as he heard some loud sounds from the kitchen.

"I'll get it for you, Cloud!" Reno's happy voice could be heard.

"No, not that cupboard! It will-,"

A loud crash was then heard, followed by Reno shrieking.

Roxas glanced at Axel who couldn't do more than twitch in fear of hearing the older Strife snap.

"What do you say about we go an wait in my room?" Roxas suggested with a faint smile on his face, looking at Axel.

"I couldn't agree more..." Axel said and let himself be led away from the living room to a much safer place in the house.

They could at least get some time to prepare for the dinner itself...

* * *

The dinner worked out pretty fine... the first half hour. Before Axel was stupid enough to let his hand slip over to touch Roxas' thigh, which in turn almost had made the blonde jump out of the chair in surprise.

"Come on, Axel, I thought you told me to behave!" Reno exclaimed with a grin on his face as Roxas blushed and Axel tried to look as innocent as possible, "Oh don't give me that look, it didn't work the day I practically walked in on you two having se-,"

"**RENO!**" Axel shrieked with wide eyes and at the same time Roxas almost choked on his drink, making him start to cough violently to clear his lungs from the liquid, "Reno, shut your fucking mouth and eat!" he then hissed before he went ahead with staring down at his plate, shoving some food into his mouth, madly chewing it while Roxas kept hacking up his lungs for some time before he madly blushed and also he stared down at his plate.

The older blonde raised an eyebrow and then shrugged and let out a sigh, "...All right," he simply said, making the younger teens look up at him with wide eyes. Whoa... shouldn't he have like... scolded Roxas and thrown out Axel?

"Why looking so scared?" Reno asked with a grin on his face, probably being the one who was most amused by the situation.

"B-but-," Roxas let out in confusion, looking at Cloud.

"Seriously, I'm not stupid, Rox," Cloud lightly said as he brought the glass to his mouth, leaving the others in silence before putting the glass down again, "You're both teenagers, I didn't expect anything less from either one of you. I'm happy as long as you don't do anything while I'm present," he calmly stated which made the two teens look even more surprised.

Reno chuckled and nudged Cloud slightly, "You know, I think they lost it..." he said and trailed off since none of the teens proceeded to move or react at what Cloud had said.

Cloud blinked and lifted his gaze to first of all look at Reno who grinned, and then he looked over at Axel and Roxas, who still stared at him. He glanced back at Reno.

"Do you think they broke?" he seriously asked the older redhead who nodded with a grin on his face.

"Looks like it, heh..."

Cloud raised an eyebrow but then shrugged, "More dessert for us then-,"

"Hey!" Roxas immediately complained then with a pout on his face, "You two are not getting to keep the dessert for yourselves, and that's it!" he sharply said and then glanced over at Axel who seemed to had gotten out of his state of shock, looking fairly confused though.

"...you're not about to kill me?" he asked, looking at Cloud.

"Why would I? Roxas is as responsible as you are when it comes to your sex lives..." he said and trailed off, shrugging.

Axel let out a sigh of relief, relaxing in his chair. Well, that had gone much better than he first had thought it would.

But... that was just the beginning.

"Roxas..." Axel said with wide eyes, pulling at the blonde slightly, "We... we should..."

"**Reno!**"

"**I swear I didn't do that on purpose, yo!"**

"We... we should run," Axel finished off, biting his own lower lip, contemplating what would be their fastest escape route.

"**Get your freaking hand off of my ass!**"

Roxas just threw a look at his boyfriend and grabbed his hand and then they ran for it, leaving the house before they had to witness any abuse or possibly murder.

And everything had been working so damn fine... until Reno just hadn't been able to keep his hands from Cloud's ass. Axel could swear he wasn't going to feel sorry for Reno later on. He had so brought that one on himself.

And man... they had been so close to getting through the whole dinner just fine.

Well, screw desserts, they'd rather live.

* * *

Axel and Roxas laughed as they ran up the stairs, happy to be away from the dinner at Roxas' place.

"Oh man..." Axel said as he finally got his keys up, unlocking the door, "I can't believe them!" he laughed as he stumbled inside, Roxas closing and locking the door after him.

"I know," he said with a smile on his face, "I-whoa!" he cried out as he was pulled down into the couch, being snuggled by his much taller boyfriend.

Axel smiled contently into the golden locks as his blonde stopped struggling against his grip, "Mmh... I love you, Roxas," he murmured into the other's hair and wrapped his arms around him.

Roxas let out a light sigh but relaxed in Axel's arms, wrapping his own arms around the redhead, "And I love you too," he softly said before he let out a squeak as Axel's hands all of a sudden were resting on his ass and gave it a squeeze, "A-Axel!" he let out with a slight blush covering his cheeks.

"Yes, RoxASS?" he asked, clearly amused by the blonde's reaction.

The blonde simply let out a groan and shook his head, "You're hopeless..." he muttered but couldn't keep that looked of displease on his face for much longer. After all he just couldn't resist Axel... so why pretend to be annoyed?

A small smirk slipped up on Roxas' lips as he untangled his arms from Axel's waist and let his hands run over the redhead's chest, outside the fabric of his thin t-shirt, "You know..." he said and trailed off, licking his lips, "You're pretty damn hot..." he purred at his boyfriend.

Axel blinked in surprise. Wait a minute, was Roxas for once taking the first step? Whoa, this was new! Not that he minded, on the other hand he liked the thought of Roxas being a little bit more dominant. It would bring some excitement into the whole sex thing.

"You don't look half bad either, Rox," Axel murmured as he looked into Roxas' sapphire blue eyes, seeing a hint of lust and passion in there. Heh, seemed he was getting lucky tonight... If only Reno could stay away from home long enough.

The blonde just smirked in response, still letting his hands run up and down, but as they reached the hem of the shirt he slipped his hands in under it, meeting Axel's hot skin.

"Heh... didn't know you could be such a tease, Roxas," Axel purred with a smirk on his face, still hands over Roxas ass, giving it another squeeze, but this time the blonde didn't blush, he just rolled his eyes.

"I guess you haven't seen all sides of me then," the blonde replied with a raised eyebrow before leaning down over Axel's body, meeting Axel's lips in a soft but still slightly demanding kiss.

"Mmn..." Axel responded by wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, pushing their bodies together, gasping when Roxas' knee accidentally brushed against his crotch, natural reaction... which didn't freak Roxas out any more. Both had the clock tower incident clear in mind... and that had just been very awkward, especially for Axel.

"Having a bit of a problem, Ax?" Roxas cooed at his boyfriend as he brushed his knee against his boyfriend's crotch again, making the redhead groan at the slight friction, automatically bucking his hips up against Roxas' knee, "Aw... seems so to me..."

The redhead huffed as he pulled Roxas down to his face again, so close that their foreheads were touching, "I blame you," he playfully growled, "And since it's your fault, why don't you solve the problem with me?" he then asked with a smirk on his face and winked at his lover.

Roxas grinned at Axel before playfully nipping on his lower lip, then licking the other's cheek, "We might be able to arrange that," he whispered into Axel's ear, making Axel shudder as the warm breath met his sensitive skin.

"Happy to be making business with you in that case," Axel purred as he took his chance to kiss the other's exposed neck, making Roxas let out a gasp since Axel knew exactly where his sensitive spots were.

"I bet," Roxas murmured, tilting his head slightly to his right which gave Axel more access to the blonde's neck, and he took the hint immediately, attacking Roxas' neck with kisses and small bites which made Roxas let out a low moan as he moved his hips against Axel's, in turn getting out a moan from the redhead's lips as well.

"We... should move..." Roxas murmured even though he just wanted to continue what they were doing in the couch. But if Reno got home it wouldn't be so fun. It would totally ruin the mood if he walked in on them in the couch.

Axel grunted but stopped attacking Roxas' neck to look into the blue eyes which were clouded by lust. He didn't feel very keen on moving either... but it had to be done, "Yeah..." he murmured as he wrapped his arms around Roxas' waist and pulling the blonde up with him.

Roxas responded by wrapping his legs around Axel's hips, having the redhead carry him as Roxas kissed his neck, causing Axel to stumble a lot on the rather short way to his room. He almost knocked over a vase (with dead flowers) and then pretty much tripped into his room thanks to some freaking cord Reno had left on the floor.

"Damn it..." Axel muttered as he parted from Roxas' lips before the blonde attacked his lips again, keeping Axel distracted. Thankfully the small trip to the bed just consisted of three steps which he stumbled backwards, ending up falling and landing on his back, Roxas sitting on top of him... still very occupied by kissing the other.

The blonde contently hummed as his (now more experienced) hands travelled up to Axel's chest, starting to unbutton the redhead's dress shirt without a problem, just eager to have direct contact with his skin.

"Roxas..." Axel breathlessly let out as the blonde ran his hands over the redhead's chest, a smirk plastered on his face.

"What, Axel?" Roxas asked as he bent down placing a few kisses along the redhead's chest before looking up at his face.

"I just think it's a little bit unfair that I'm the only one getting rid of clothes, don't you agree?" he asked with a purr, pulling the blonde up to his face, making their lips crush together in a passionate kiss.

He used his chance to start pulling at Roxas' shirt, getting it off of his boyfriend without much trouble since Roxas didn't put up much trouble with it. After all both of them just wanted to have more skin to skin contact. And soon enough both Axel's and Roxas' shirts lied discarded on the already messy floor.

"I'm sorry to say it, but I'm afraid we might have to do it faster than usual," Axel murmured before nibbling on Roxas' ear, making the blonde hum in contentment.

"Whatever, I'm not really the mood for foreplay either way," he murmured under his breath. Yeah, Roxas was pretty damn turned on and he just wanted to get on with it. He wouldn't be able to stand having Axel tease him, even though he loved how the other knew exactly what to do to make him feel pure pleasure. This was simply not the right time for foreplay.

The redhead just grinned as he decided to take the upper hand, rolling them over so he straddled Roxas' hips, rubbing their crotches together, making the shorter one moan at the friction.

"There's... too much fabric," the blonde growled as he looked at Axel with a slight pout on is face, making the redhead just grin at him as he rolled his hips against the blonde one more time, "Nn-ah!"

"Care to repeat, Roxie?" Axel cooed as he bent down and nipped at the other's neck, making him moan once more. Well, he could always spare a little time for foreplay, after all he just couldn't help himself for wanting to make Roxas moan and squirm beneath him. He was allowed a bit of fun, right?

"Too. Much. Fabric!"Roxas hissed with narrowed eyes, daring Axel to keep teasing him when it was the redhead who actually had been the one saying they'd have to hurry things up a bit more. That he had the nerve, "Don't want Reno coming home to find us, right?" he then asked with a raised eyebrow and Axel rolled his eyes but did move his hands wrong Roxas' wrists, starting to work on Roxas' belt.

He growled in annoyance as he fiddled with it, trying to get it off, "Damn it, Roxas... I can't freaking see why you wear this when the pants are tight enough without it!" he muttered and let out a slight sound of happiness as he finally managed to open it up, giving him access to the the zipper of the pants.

The blonde simply rolled his eyes and licked his lips, "Well it looks good, idiot, and you're not one to talk," he muttered as he himself reached for Axel's own belt. But it proved to be a lot easier to deal with since he got it off without a problem.

Axel smirked as he unzipped Roxas' pants and opened the single button before he slipped a hand inside, his hand stroking Roxas' hardening erection through his thin boxers,.

"Does seem you've got quite a problem as well," he said with a smirk on his face, looking at the blonde who gasped at the touch, "Want some help?" he then asked with a smirk on his face.

"W-what do you think?" Roxas asked as he gasped when Axel once more stroke his hand over it, just smirking at the way he could make Roxas gasp and moan.

Oh Axel loved being in control over Roxas this way... it was so freaking sexy to see the way Roxas could move and moan.

"Hm... I'm thinking you'll help me and I'll help you," he said with a smirk on his face as he started to pull Roxas' pants down, making the blonde whimper.

"Just get your own pants of and fuck me down the mattress!" Roxas hissed as his own pants and underwear was pulled down, leaving him completely exposed to Axel who just raised an eyebrow at the other's demand.

Seemed he had a really needy blonde on his hands today. Oh well, Axel didn't exactly mind. Especially since they had to get it over with pretty fast.

"I have to prepare you, you know," Axel said with a smirk on his face as he pushed himself up from Roxas to wriggle out of his jeans and boxers, before he went back to the the impatient blonde he opened up a drawer and grabbed the tube which lied in the corner of it, "So say hello to our dear friend," he then teasingly said as he crawled back over Roxas, rubbing their erections together which made Roxas gasp and buck his hips against Axel.

"Just do it quickly," Roxas murmured as he met Axel's lips for a short kiss, "I want you now, damn it..."

"Still gotta do this," Axel said with a shrug as he squeezed some lube out on his fingers, glancing at Roxas, "I swear I'll try to finish this as fast as possible," he said and without warning slipped one finger past the tight ring of muscles, making Roxas gasp at the sudden intrusion.

Axel just grinned at the way Roxas sounded as he started to move his finger a bit, stretching the blonde to prepare him for what was about to come.

"Ugh, Axel..." Roxas let out and licked his lips, "Fuck..."

Axel smirked as he moved the finger almost all the way out before shoving it in again, "Aw, does Roxie want more?" he cooed and looked at Roxas' irritated face expression. He chuckled as he carefully started to push two fingers in.

Roxas hissed a bit in discomfort. Usually he didn't really mind two fingers, but usually they didn't try to do this so freaking fast! If they had gone through with their foreplay and had time to do the stretching properly then he wouldn't mind at all.

Axel frowned slightly and waited a while so the blonde could adjust to the fingers. He didn't have to wait so long before Roxas thrust his hips back at Axel, meaning that it was fine for him to move his fingers.

"You okay?" Axel asked as he started moving his fingers in and out in a slow pace, letting his other hand travel up to Roxas' cock, making the blonde gasp and nod, "Aw, sorry for neglection you," Axel purred as he stroke the erection, earning him yet another moan from Roxas. The feeling of Axel's fingers inside of him combined with the hand stroking his erection was freaking amazing.

"A-ah..." Roxas moaned and looked at Axel with half-lidded eyes, "J-just add a third, s-so we can get this started," he murmured, eyes clouded with lust.

Axel frowned but nodded as he slowly started to push the third finger past the ring of muscles with some dificulty.

"Roxas, you have to-,"

"Relax, I know," the blonde murmured in slight dislike but took a deep breath and let it out, relaxing as much as he felt it was possible to do. And hey, it did actually help a lot... it sure felt uncomfortable having three fingers up your ass but didn't hurt as much as it would have done if he hadn't relaxed.

Axel started to get his stroking pace up a bit which made the sensation more pleasant on Roxas' part, the blonde hadn't even given him any signs of pain this time, which surprised Axel slightly. He did usually get some kind of remark about it hurting to have three fingers inside. But nope...

"You're starting to get used to this," Axel purred as he bent forward, placing a kiss on Roxas' jaw, still letting his fingers thrust in and out of Roxas, making the blonde cry out as Axel hit that spot, also known as his prostate.

"A-Axel!" Roxas moaned loudly as he buried his nails in the thin sheets of the bed, throwing his head to the side.

"Aha~" Axel said and angled his fingers slightly, thrusting them back which earned him another cry of pleasure from the blonde who was starting to pant loudly.

"I-I'm... I'm ready," he stuttered out after a while, "Let's finish this. Now," Roxas said under his breath.

The redhead smirked as he placed a kiss on Roxas' forehead and then withdrew his fingers, but once more reached for the lube and got himself a quite generous amount which he coated his erection with before he crawled up over Roxas, meeting the other's lips in a deep kiss as he placed the tip of his erection against Roxas' entrance and without a warning pushed inside, making the blonde cry out into the kiss.

Axel held still for a while, parting from Roxas' lips. A light groan escaped Axel's lips as he felt Roxas' tight muscles clench around him. Damn it... it felt so freaking good and he just wanted to thrust all the way in but he didn't want to hurt Roxas.

But he was quite surprised when Roxas' thrust his hips back at Axel in impatience, "I told you to fuck me down the mattress, Axel," the blonde growled lightly as he wrapped his arms around Axel's back, moving against Axel's hips, resulting in getting Axel just further inside of him.

"R-Roxas," Axel moaned as he grabbed Roxas' hips, not late to please Roxas' wishes. If the blonde did want to get fucked down the mattress, then he'd be happy to do so. So with one quick thrust the redhead had buried himself into the tight heat, almost making his head spin. Oh God... he was quite glad they said they'd have to make this quick cause honestly... Axel was so damn horny he didn't think he would be able to last so long this time.

"A-ah..." Roxas moaned as he felt Axel buried within him, "D-damn it, Ax, move..."

Axel growled lightly as he pulled out to then thrust back into him, trying to get into a quite nice pace. He could pick up the pace more later on, at first he just wanted to make sure both he and Roxas could adjust a bit.

"Yeah, yeah," Axel murmured, once more letting his hand grab Roxas erection as he moved inside of him, stroking Roxas at the same pace. He was pleased to hear a loud moan escape the blonde's lips, "Heh... you're so god damn hot..." he murmured, speeding up a little bit.

Roxas just moaned in reply and pulled Axel even closer to him if it even was possible, moving with the redhead to increase the friction between the two of them. He wanted it rough damn it, and the only way he'd get enough of it was to move with Axel.

"A-ah... harder..." Roxas said under his breath, gasping as he felt Axel run his thumb over the head of his erection, almost making Roxas' eyes roll back in pleasure.

"As you please," Axel grunted as he slammed his hips forward, groaned at the amazing feeling. He kept thrusting faster and rougher, pumping Roxas' erection at the same pace. Roxas was moaning loudly, crying out in pleasure when Axel hit his prostate once more.

"Mnnh... ah..." the blonde was squirming underneath Axel, just getting closer and closer to the edge for each time that Axel thrust into him, hitting his prostate several of the times, almost making Roxas see stars of the amazing feeling.

"A-ah! Axel! I'm... I'm going t-to..." he trailed of and cried out once more as Axel skilfully enough angled himself in such a way that he brushed against the blonde's prostate again, "F-fuck..."

Axel moaned loudly as well, feeling that he was really close to the edge, "Fucking God... R-Roxas," he choked out, rapidly thrusting into Roxas, pumping the blonde as if life depended on it. They were so close... so close...

And finally, Roxas cried out one last time, his back arching as he felt how Axel once more hit his prostate, sending waves of pleasure through his body... and he finally reached his limit as he felt how he came in Axel's hand.

Axel gasped and moaned loudly when he felt Roxas' muscles clench around him, and with a few last thrusts after Roxas had come Axel came inside of Roxas, shaking as he did... ending up collapsing on top of the blonde afterwards, panting in exhaustion.

Oh hell... damn it, that was so much more tiring than exercising!

"Oh... my... God..." Roxas managed to get out after about a minute of silence between the two of them, "That was fast... but... so..."

"Fucking good..." Axel murmured in the end, kissing Roxas' cheek.

The blonde giggled as he wrapped his arms around Axel and let out a sigh of contentment. Talk about change in attitude. From a craving and impatient to cute and giggly. Not that Axel minded... he liked Roxas in all different kind of ways.

Axel sighed as he pulled the blonde closer. Sure they would have to clean up soon so Reno wouldn't walk in on them like this... but they could spare a few minutes of cuddling.

"This was worth missing out on dessert..." Roxas sleepily murmured.

Axel let out a laugh and shook his head.

Well, he couldn't do more than agree. And did he really need anything more sweet when he already had Roxas?

I wouldn't think so.

* * *

**A/N:** So sorry if that was a bit hurried at the end... but damn it, Reno could storm in at any time! XD  
I guess it almost seemed like a filler... but it was needed. Seriously, I can't make this get depressing all the time. And I'm starting to wonder what the heck to do with the plot. I've got plans since earlier... but I'm not sure if I should keep to them or not.

Well! Either way, I'm sorry that you had to wait for so long ^^

**Luxord:** Review! -hic- And you... you... -hic- ..you'll get... RUM! -passes out in a drunken state-


	20. Chapter 20

**Someone Else's Shadow 20**

**AN:**Hello there! I bet you didn't think you'd see the end of this, eh? XD

Well, I'm very sorry for the long wait! I can't really come with any good excuse. I "grew out of" my KH-obsession and moved onto things like Torchwood, Hetalia and KHR. And a death occurred in my family that hit me pretty hard and left me uninspired for months.

But my inspiration have flared back up when I realized that I miss how much happiness writing have brought to me through all years! So here I bring you **the final chapter** of **Someone Else's Shadow**.

It have been over two years since I started this. A story that wasn't meant to be published.  
20 chapters, about 250 pages. Hundreds of lovely readers.

**A huge thanks to all of you who have followed me on this journey from the beginning, and a huge thanks to you who jumped in along the way!**  
And to my new readers who just discovered this: thanks for taking your time to read!

You have no idea how much you guys have changed my life. This story have been important to me. It might not be 100% free from errors. I might have accidentally changed things in the story along the way that doesn't make sense... but I'm happy that there's so much people who have liked it. **You guys are awesome**. When I feel bad I sometimes go back checking out your reviews, and it makes me smile. Makes me happy that I can write something that others like.

Enough of my rambling. Not sure everyone went through all of that haha XD Oh well. Go on, read. Last chapter of **SES**.**  
Thanks.  
**

**Warnings: **Language, violence...

**Disclaimer:**  
If I was owning KH it would center around Axel and Roxas, and it would so be yaoi. Uh-huh. That's how it is. Do I own it? Obviously not D:

* * *

Time was really flying by for the people in Twilight Town.

Roxas sighed as he pushed himself up from his bed and looked around before he spotted the watch. It was just about 6 am, and for once he seemed to be up before Cloud.

Hm, what date was it? 7th of December? Already his birthday, Roxas hadn't seen that coming... It seemed like time was passing by in an amazing speed. It was almost scary to think that he had been with Axel for almost half a year! It felt like it had been less time... but still it felt long. It was for sure confusing.

"Right..." Roxas murmured as he stood up and shivered slightly when his feet met the cold floor. It wouldn't surprise him if he got stuck to the floor one day. He sighed and threw a glance through his window and blinked a few times before he turned to the window fully.

"The hell..." he said with a blank look on his face before a smile slipped onto his lips.

It was snowing outside! If there was something Roxas loved it was snow, it looked so white... so pure. Beautiful and untouched. According to Roxas it was one of nature's most beautiful creations. He didn't care that he hated the cold, if there was snow outside he'd be happy. It had almost never snowed in Hollow Bastion so this was definitely a positive surprise!

"Happy Birthday to me," he softly said and turned around, glancing at the photo of his parents, "Or what do you say, mom?" he asked with a slight smile on his face before he headed to his closet, carefully picking out his clothes. Ending up with his usual black jeans and a plain white t-shirt, and over that he just pulled his checkered pullover.

The blonde headed down the stairs, letting out a yelp when Cloud stepped out from his bedroom, looking like a zombie.

"Mm... Roxas?" Cloud groggily let out, "Wazz'imeissit?"

The younger blonde blinked as he watched Cloud, trying to analyse the other's slurred speaking, "Uh... it's just a few minutes past 6 and-,"

"Past 6?" Cloud shrieked with wide eyes, immediately looking more wake up than ever, "Oh hell! Hell, hell, hell!" he cursed under his breath as he ran back into his room.

Roxas just chuckled under his breath as he heard whining from the room.

Apparently a certain Zachary Fair had been keeping his brother company during night. That was the only explanation to why Cloud had slept for more than 5, when he usually got up. And actually that was something that occurred more and more often in their household. There wasn't anything strange about Zack deciding to drop by most nights... and even though Cloud usually complained about it Roxas knew that he was happy about it.

"_Let go of me, Zack! I've got work in an hour!"_

Roxas rolled his eyes as he entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, simply grabbing a pack of milk and then finding himself a bowl, a spoon and some cereal.

It didn't take many minutes before Cloud was rushing into the kitchen, immediately turning on the coffee machine. That was all the older blonde needed to get his brain to function properly. And a Cloud who hadn't gotten his coffee was damn scary from time to time so Roxas gladly let his brother drink as much coffee as he wanted to.

Healthy. Or not... He didn't want to know how much caffeine was going around in Cloud's body.

"Ugh... what date is it today?" Cloud tiredly asked as he rubbed his eyes before glancing at his brother who contentedly was eating his breakfast.

Roxas shrugged, "The 7th," he simply replied.

"Ah. Yes, that's right, thanks... Whoa! Oh God!" he snapped around, staring at Roxas with wide eyes, "Shit! Sorry! Happy Birthday!" he then exclaimed with an almost horrified face expression.

The younger one just grinned at the other's reaction, "Thanks, and no need to say sorry. It's no big deal," he said with a shrug.

"But you're 17 now!" Cloud exclaimed, "What do you mean 'no big deal'?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Uh, I don't feel any different from yesterday, you know..." he trailed off, "Or have I grown a second head that I haven't noticed?" he asked with a frown on his face, eyeing his brother.

Cloud groaned and ran a hand through his messed up hair, "But it's-,"

Roxas sighed and shoved another spoon of cereal into his mouth, "Seriously. It's fine, no offence or anything like that taken. Hey, you realized it at 6 am, 6 pm would have been another thing though," he said with a slight grin on his face before he stood up and put his bowl in the sink, "I'm gonna walk to school, so I'll be back sometime..."

"Right... Rox, is it okay if I get late? I don't know how long I'll be held up, I might not be home before night if it keeps snowing like this..." Cloud said with a frown on his face, "But it's your birthday and-,"

The younger of them shrugged, "It's okay Cloud. I don't mind, I'm not much for celebrating. Just be careful," he stated before he waved and left the house.

* * *

Roxas was smiling the whole way to school.

Things were really working out his way for once. He was kind of surprised by the fact that nothing had seemed to really go against him since that Xemnas incident... well, there was that little "family dinner" that Reno had screwed up. But who hadn't seen that one coming?

He let out a chuckle at the thought of how he and Axel had escaped to Axel and Reno's apartment and had had sex quickly. But it had appeared that their brothers had actually made up when they had gotten to speak in private. Reno did still enjoy teasing Cloud though, but he knew that the blonde could viciously get his revenge if he wanted to...

"Roxie-foxie!" a singsong voice suddenly cut off Roxas train of thought and the blonde rolled his eyes at the new nickname. But he smiled as he turned around and saw Demyx running towards him, "Wait up, wait up!" he called and Roxas slowed down and raised an eyebrow.

It was a miracle that he was so energetic all the time...

"What are you doing in this part of town so early?" Roxas asked with a chuckle as Demyx ran up beside him, panting slightly.

Demyx sent a mild glare at Roxas but then grinned since he was pretty bad at looking angry, "I was going to surprise you at your house, but Cloud told me you had gone like... five minutes earlier! I've been running to catch up with you!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Surprise me?"

"Yeah! To wish you a happy birthday!" Demyx said with a grin on his face and then opened up his bag and started to search it through, pulling up a small wrapped gift after some time, "A gift from me and Zexy!" he happily said, "I was supposed to give it to you at the surprise party later but-,"

"Wait what?" Roxas asked with wide eyes, "Surprise party?"

Demyx blinked and stopped walking before he groaned loudly and pulled his hand through his hair, "Oh no I wasn't supposed to say that! Both Axel, Zack and Marluxia have been going on about me having to keep quiet to not spoil it! They're going to kill me!"

The shorter one of them laughed loudly and shook his head. Man, it was so Demyx to spoil something like that. He was for sure good at speaking before thinking at times, but that was one of the things that made Demyx so fun to be around. You never knew what he'd come up with!

"D-don't worry," Roxas stuttered out and let out a final laugh, "I'm good at acting surprised, I won't tell," he said with a wink which made Demyx look as if he had been released from a heavy burden,a and before he knew it the other one had thrown himself on Roxas, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver Roxas!" he said, sounding really relieved. He did let go though and smiled as he handed Roxas the gift, "Come on, open it up!" he said with enthusiasm written across his face.

Roxas smiled lightly as he took the gift, "Thanks," he said and then carefully unwrapped it. He laughed as he uncovered a box with a photo glued to the lid. It was a picture of Demyx and Zexion. Demyx was making a face while poor Zexion simply looked bothered, they held a sign between them that said Happy Birthday Roxie. With a chuckle he opened up the box and then looked at Demyx, "Oh you guys... you didn't have to!" he said with wide eyes.

Demyx grinned and winked, "Come on, we all know that your iPod doesn't have enough space! That one has a whopping 160 GB of space! And sorry, heh... I opened it and made a playlist for fun. You can listen to it during maths or something like that!"

They laughed at that as they started walking again. Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad. Math could be really boring. Neither of them liked equations, algebra or things like that.

"Thanks Dem, that must have cost you guys quite some money," he said and glanced at the other, "I must remember to thank Zexion later too."

"If you think we paid lots for a gift wait until you see what Axel got you!" the other laughed and Roxas almost looked worried, "Don't look like that! If Axel is happy to spend money on you just let him do it.

Roxas sighed and shrugged. He would have been happy with just something simple... but if it was what Axel wanted then he'd be happy too. Actually, he'd be happy by whatever he got from his boyfriend. Unless it was a breakup call, now that wouldn't be very fun, would it?

"Yay! We're finally here, let's find the others!" Demyx said, and with that he grabbed Roxas' hand and started running towards the school building. Roxas couldn't do more than follow him and laugh. He was so lucky to have found such great friends.

* * *

Roxas let out a sigh of relief as Demyx finally had ran off somewhere else. He did love Demyx, but sometimes it could be a little bit too much. Especially an early morning. He grinned as he sat down with his notebooks and then picked up his brand new iPod Classic.

He had really been in need of more space for his music. The earlier 16 GB on his old iPod hadn't been close to enough, and he had no idea how many times the other had complained to the others about that!

"Oooh, you got a new iPod!" an excited voice was all of a sudden heard and Roxas turned his head and yelped at how close Sora's face was to his own.

Sora didn't have much respect for people's personal bubbles. Much like Demyx...

"Yikes, don't scare me like that!" Roxas let out with a laugh and put the iPod down, "But yeah... Demyx and Zexion gave it to me. Where's Riku?" he then curiously asked. Since the two of them had made up weeks earlier it was rare to see one without the other.

Sora chuckled, "He's not a morning person and we were up late playing games and... doing... uh... stuff... yesterday!" he said, a tiny faint blush visible on his face. Roxas smirked.

He had for sure spotted the two of them holding hands when they thought no one was watching. It was pretty cute... but Roxas was always keeping an eye on Riku to make sure he wasn't going to treat Sora badly again. Then he'd for sure get his ass kicked, badly. And Roxas knew that the others gladly would help him since Riku had been such a bitch earlier.

Their gangs were at least getting along more now since Sora was friendly with everyone. They simply had had to accept the fact that they couldn't completely avoid each other.

"Aha. Stuff. Makes a lot of sense," Roxas teasingly said and grinned as he watched the blush darken on Sora's face.

"Aw is he making fun of you, Sora?" Axel's voice was suddenly heard which almost made Roxas jump out of his chair once more.

What the hell was up with people and just soundlessly appearing when he was least expecting it? At this rate poor Roxas would end up dying of a heart attack on his own birthday!

Before Roxas had a chance to say anything Axel had sauntered up to him, pulled him up and greeted him with a soft but passionate kiss. And as usual Roxas found himself in his own happy world as he wrapped his own arms around Axel and returned the kiss.

Sora raised an eyebrow as he watched the couple make out. People were walking by, but no one was caring about the passionate kiss the two of them were sharing. After all it was a pretty normal occurrence, and people didn't dare to get on Axel's bad side about it so the ones who didn't like it was better of shutting up.

"Great, well I'll see you later Roxas, and happy birthday!" Sora said with a sigh but laughed as Roxas gave him a thumb up and then waved.

As the brunette disappeared out of sight Axel stopped and grinned, "Happy birthday, Rox," he seductively murmured next to Roxas ear, making him shudder, "It's for sure going to be even more happy later on," he added and brushed his lips along Roxas neck.

Was that damned redhead trying to make him get all horny before his first class even had started? It did for sure seem that way!

"Axel..." Roxas murmured and sent a mild glare at the tall redhead who just grinned at him, "Agh..." he ended up just groaning and shaking his head. Honestly he didn't really mind.

Axel laughed as he let go of Roxas, "Waiting for maths?" he asked as he threw a glance at Roxas' maths book.

"What in the world makes you think that?" Roxas sarcastically asked and rolled his eyes before picking his books up, "Of course I am, stupid. And waiting for Zexion since we go to same math class," he said with a shrug, "I need to thank him for the iPod too!" he then happily said as he showed it to Axel.

The redhead laughed, "I see, so Demyx couldn't wait to give it to you, eh?"

"Nope, he was chasing after me too school so he could give it to me!"

Axel chuckled and shook his head, "Man that's just like Demyx, isn't it?" he asked and Roxas just laughed and nodded, "Well, you'll get my gift later, I don't wanna spoil it right away. But I know you'll be absolutely stunned!" he said with a grin on his face.

Roxas pouted and crossed his arms, "Hey that's mean!"

Axel winked as he leant down a bit to place a quick kiss against the blonde's soft lips, "It will make it much more fun now when you're curious about it!" he teasingly said and threw a look at the time, "Sorry Rox, I gotta go. Luxord will fail me if I don't do that re-test he set up for me!" and with that Axel took off.

Roxas sighed. Oh right, Axel had quite some re-tests to get done before the winter holidays... but according to Demyx and Zexion Axel was doing much better in school now when Roxas was there. The redhead wasn't skipping as much as he used to thanks to Roxas. And the blonde was always nagging at him to get his studies done. And he had a threat that always worked.

"_If you fail that test I won't stay over or sleep with you for a month."_

That one always worked no matter what.

Oh well, there was no point in standing around there watching Axel disappear down the stairs. Instead he sighed and went towards the classroom, happy to find it open already. And he wasn't really surprised when he noted that Zexion was already was in there studying.

"Hey, Zexion," Roxas said and smiled as he entered and sat down beside the other whom brushed his bangs aside so he could properly look at Roxas.

"Good morning, you're quite early today," Zexion pointed out.

"Yeah, I was up early and just felt there was no idea sitting at home. By the way, Demyx gave me the iPod. Thanks a lot, I was really in need of something with more space!" he said and laughed.

Zexion smirked, "Yes we all knew that," he said as he closed his notebook, "Happy birthday by the way... and let me guess, Demyx told you about _that _thing, right?"

"You know him too well," Roxas said, guessing that Zexion meant the party, "I'll just act surprised, for Demyx's sake," he added with a slight laugh.

"I think that might be a good idea," Zexion agreed with a slight laugh, "I knew that Demyx was going to spill it."

Roxas just smiled and nodded. Well, it was just Demyx's nature, as stated before Demyx spoke before thinking. But really, Demyx could be serious and actually think when he had to be... that just wasn't very often.

The day seemed to pass so damn slowly for Roxas. It wasn't that he was having a bad day, in fact the day was great! His friends was as fun as usual to be around, he had gotten several gifts and Marluxia had even brought cake for them all that they ate during lunch. Apparently he was quite good at cooking since he had made it by himself.

What was irking him was the gift that Axel was going to give him. What in the world was it? He wanted to know right away... but at the same time Roxas wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what the redhead had gotten him since it seemed it was something expensive.

By the end of the day when school FINALLY was over Roxas was itching to know what he was getting from Axel. He didn't ask, but he wanted to. The small talk he was making with Axel as they headed for his apartment just went right through Roxas' head. He honestly had no idea what he had been talking to Axel for about 10 minutes now.

"...and then he was all like 'what the hell is a pufferfish?' and I couldn't help cracking up laughing at him!" Axel said and laughed loudly, Roxas couldn't do more than laugh with him even though he had no idea why.

"Uhm... so we're going to your place?" Roxas then asked, just do get out of the previous conversation, not wanting to embarrass himself by admitting he hadn't listened to Axel.

Axel nodded, "Yeah! If you don't mind, of course... it's your birthday and all!" Axel said with a grin on his face, but Roxas could see a tiny bit of nervousness gracing his face. So the other were probably in Axel's apartment, awaiting for them to get there so they could have that "surprise" party for Roxas.

Roxas _almost_ wanted to mess a bit with Axel just to make him sweat, but being the nice boyfriend he was he decided not to, "It's great," Roxas said and smiled, "I don't mind at all, it's not like I've got any plans either way," he said with a laugh as they headed towards the apartment house.

"Fantastic!" Axel said and did let out a sigh of relief, "I mean, that you don't have any plans!" he then said with a nervous laugh.

Oh geez... if Demyx hadn't given it away already then Axel's behaviour would certainly have made Roxas suspect that there was something strange going on. Axel wasn't very smooth at keeping some things secret either, he would have to point that out after the party.

All of a sudden the redhead brought up his cellphone and threw a glance at Roxas before he turned his attention back to the phone as he quickly sent away a message. Probably letting the others know that they were just a minute or two away from unlocking the door.

Roxas did really have to force himself to not laugh at Axel's poor attempts at being discrete about it all. But it was really sweet that he was trying so hard for Roxas' sake... that he wasn't being very smooth didn't matter.

As they walked up the stairs towards Axel's apartment said redhead started fumbling with his keys and Roxas could only watch in amusement as Axel tried to unlock the door, and he also prepared to look as surprised as he could.

"There, boyfriends first," Axel said with a grin as he opened up the door so Roxas could step into the very dark apartment.

"Thanks," Roxas said with a chuckle as he stepped into the apartment, trying to seem unknowing about the surprise party that was awaiting, "Isn't it a bit dark?" he said after he had gotten his shoes off and taken a few steps into out of the hall and into the living room...

"**SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROXAS!"**

Well, that did quite surprise Roxas, or more like scared him since someone out of the "surprise squad" had gripped onto his shoulders from behind, making him scream loudly, "HOLY CRAP!"

And then there was a flashing light. And then loud laughing.

Oh for the love of cameras...

"Ahaha! You should have seen your face!" Axel laughed loudly and then a click was heard, followed by the room being filled with light from the lamps, "I got you good on the camera!"

Roxas let out a shaky laugh and blinked, trying to get somewhat normal vision back. That camera flash had somewhat blinded him.

"Whoa... uh... whoa," he couldn't really get something else out as he watched all his friends stand there grinning at him, several of them with gifts in hands.

Zack, Demyx, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene, Namine, Reno, Cloud... who seemed to have been lying a bit earlier about being away working late, and he was wearing an apron. Apparently been assigned to cooking or baking since everyone knew how much of a disaster Reno was in the kitchen...

Also Sora and Riku was there. Riku did look a tiny bit uncomfortable, but that was understandable. But Roxas wasn't scared of any fighting occurring.

"You think this is surprising?" Demyx ecclesiastically asked with a grin on his face, "Then this will blow you away! You can show yourself!"

Roxas blinked, having no clue what the others were talking about. But just seconds later a familiar face popped up from behind the couch making Roxas open his mouth and just stare.

"Olette!" he managed to get out as the smiling girl walked past the couch and then gave him a very tight hug, "But... Hollow Bastion... I mean... how... what?"

"Cloud picked me up!" she happily said as she let go of Roxas and then she smiled at Cloud, "It was a fun ride, I don't get why you're so scared of Fenrir, it was just fun!" she then said with a laugh.

Roxas shuddered at the thought of going all the way from Hollow Bastion to Twilight Town on that horrible motorbike. But he soon let go of the thought and just smiled as he looked at his friends and family.

All of a sudden Axel put an arm around Roxas' shoulders, "You see, we wanted to give you something nice for your birthday, and we figured that bringing one more of your best friends here would be pretty neat!"

"Guys, thanks..." Roxas said, all of a sudden feeling like he was at a loss of words, "This is really amazing. I wasn't expecting something like this... I mean, you guys have done enough for me already," he awkwardly said, "With all Xemnas crap and you know..."

"Come on! Let's not dwell upon those things now!" Reno said with a grin on his face, "Let's eat! Celebrate! Dance! PARTY!"

"Hell yeah!" Zack piped in and ruffled Cloud's hair, trying to kiss him as well, maybe because of the apron that said 'Kiss the cook'...

Cloud sighed, "Yeah you kids have your fun while I finish up in the kitchen, and by kids I mean you two as well!" he sharply said and pointed at Zack then Reno before striding into the kitchen, making the others laugh.

And they did definitely celebrate.

* * *

Hours later both Axel and Roxas was lying in the couch, their legs tangled together. Most guests had left; only Cloud and (of course) Reno were left in the apartment if you overlooked Roxas and Axel.

"Man... what a day..." Roxas said and yawned. It was now pitch black outside, he had no idea what the time was or anything, "I must admit I didn't expect this even though Demyx did let it slip..."

"Hm...? Why am I not surprised?" Axel sighed but let out a chuckle at the end, "But it was fun, right?"

Roxas nodded with a goofy smile on his face, "Yeah. It's probably the best birthday I've had so far..."

"You know, it's not over yet..." Axel said with a grin on his face as he pushed himself up from the couch and grabbed Roxas' hand, pulling the tired-looking blonde up from it, "Hey, let's take a walk. I haven't given you my gift yet..." he then said with a small smile on his face as they headed towards the hallway.

Once more Roxas' curiosity was brought back to life, all celebration with their friends had made him forget about the fact that Axel hadn't given him anything yet. So it didn't really take neither of them long to get dressed for the chilly weather.

Once they were outside they simply walked without no destination in mind, enjoying each other's company in silence.

It was a cold but beautiful winter night, and stars were covering the sky. Roxas couldn't help just smiling as he gazed up into the sky. It was so hard to believe that it had been such a perfect day. A year ago he had been sure he'd never feel happy again. He had lost so much, and was hurting bad. It was like he had been a shadow of his old self.

"Roxas..." Axel all of a sudden said, but they still didn't stop walking, "You know... you really changed my life," he honestly said.

Roxas blinked as he looked at the redhead who now was looking up at the sky as well. He didn't say anything to interrupt Axel, he had a feeling he had a feeling the other had more to say.

"It's not like I had much of a bad life," Axel said and sighed, "I love my friends, you know that. But I couldn't really get anywhere when it came to love in a romantic way. But I kinda fell for you the first time we met..."

Roxas couldn't help chuckling, "You know, if I remember it right you were the one who literally made me fall for you. Down that tree. Remember giving me that concussion?" he asked which made Axel laugh and scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah that was kinda awkward. Thought I had killed you or something!" he said before taking a deep breath, "But still. You really changed me and my life. I think I'm a better person now. And I really do love you... and truth to be told I don't really have any great amazing gifts. Nothing did really seem personal enough..." he murmured as he shoved a hand into his pocket and brought up a small box, "I know this might seem all girly and mushy, and I have no idea if it's your thing... that's why I kept it simple," he said as he handed Roxas the box.

Roxas just smiled as he opened the box, there was a silver ring in it, and a chain was attached to it. It was simple, but yet beautiful. He carefully picked it up and inspected it. It was pretty neat that they had stopped next to a street light. A date was engraved into it. Roxas smiled at it. It was for sure the day Axel had beaten up Riku for laying his hands on Roxas.

Also known as the day they had first kissed, and actually gotten together.

"I was trying to think of something more to engrave..." Axel muttered and shook his head, "But it just sounded so mushy in text. You know what I feel about you, Rox. And I don't think I need to put it down in writing for you to know, right? I love you, I love you like I've never loved a single human being before, and it might sound crazy to say it at our age... but I honestly want to be together with you for the rest of my life," Axel honestly said, looking a bit nervous.

Roxas watched the redhead who was blushing lightly as he looked at Roxas. It was quite unusual to hear Axel speak so seriously and emotionally about their relationship. And just that was an important gift to Roxas.

"Thanks," he softly said and placed a kiss on Axel's surprisingly warm cheek, "I really like it. It's simple but very beautiful. And you're right, I don't need you to write it down, I'll be more than happy to hear you say it!" he said and laughed as he grabbed Axel's left hand with his right hand and started walking again.

For a while they walked in silence again. But it was a comfortable silence. But after a few minutes Roxas felt like he had to speak again.

"You changed me too," Roxas said, "I was walking around feeling dead for a long time, but when I met you guys things changed. I value life again thanks to you Axel... and that's the greatest gift you could ever get me," he honestly said and tightened his grip on Axel's hand.

Axel glanced at Roxas and tilted his head slightly as the blonde smiled and looked back at him.

"Thanks to you I'm me again," Roxas said, "I love you, Axel, never forget that."

Axel grinned as he pulled Roxas closer to him, so close that they could feel the warmth of each other's breaths...

"I swear I wont," Axel whispered and smirked, "I can seal it with a kiss," he winked and Roxas rolled his eyes but then smiled and moved in the last few centimetres, lightly kissing Axel. It just lasted a short while, but it was just enough. Because they knew that they would have many more kisses to share in the future even though they also might have their fights and bickering.

It was all a part of life, wasn't it? And if they could go through emotional breakdowns and kidnappings together then they were pretty sure they could handle anything that came their way.

Once more the snow started falling, and the pair started heading back to Axel's apartment. Both happier than they had ever been for a long time.

But Roxas was probably the one most happy. He had earned so much during his life in Twilight Town. Friends, family, experiences... and most importantly he had found himself again.

He wasn't ever going to be living in someone else's shadow again.

* * *

**AN: **Phew. I'm not sure what I think about this one. The ending maybe got a bit too mushy? Please tell me I didn't make it all too mushy! XD  
I might run in and make some edits later! It's about 4.30 am and I've misplaced my glasses. And my sight is crappy so I get an extra hard time spotting errors xD Feel free to point errors out, in a kind way :)  
Well. I said most I wanted to say in the **AN** at the start of the chapter. Thanks so much. Lot's of love to all my readers. You've made the time this fic have been written great!

Know a thing that's pretty amusing (even though I feel stupid haha)? It's today (2nd of August) exactly one year ago since I published chapter 19! Quite horrible of me to make all of you wait for so long!

Guess this is good bye then, for this story!  
But you know, I can always start a sequel if I want to. After all there's plenty of things I can write about then. For example more about Axel's past, or about Roxas' past with Seifer. Who knows if he shows up if I do write a sequel. **Please note that if I do write one it might take a long time before it's published!** I don't wanna give anyone false hope!

**Please review and tell me what you think!****  
Roxas will give you some of Cloud's awesome cookies if you do ;D  
And I'll of course do my best to reply to everyone! :)**


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